


Twins can be deadly

by Hawks54thleftfeather



Category: Misfits (TV 2009), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Child Abuse, DEATH in the form of Nathan, Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Sex, Murder but what were you expecting its misfits, Nathan and Klaus are twins, Nathan was part of the Umbrella Academy, Recreational Drug Use, Truamatized Umbrella Academy, both the Umbrella Academy and Misfits happen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:40:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27783877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawks54thleftfeather/pseuds/Hawks54thleftfeather
Summary: Nathan and Klaus are the only set of biological siblings in the Umbrella Academy- identical twins with powers relying on death. Number Four and Number Eight. But- it wont define them.In which the twins get caught in a freak storm during Nathan's community service, and the Academy- plus some extras- work to save the world in the most unconventional way possible.❗❗!!!!THERES A NEW CHAPTER UP PEOPLE!!!!❗❗
Relationships: Ben and the twins, Kelly Bailey/Nathan Young, Klaus Hargreeves & Nathan Young, Klaus Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Klaus/ Dave, Nathan Young and the Misfits, Raymond Chestnut/Allison Hargreeves, Sissy Cooper/Vanya Hargreeves, The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy) & Nathan Young
Comments: 38
Kudos: 50





	1. The Umbrella Academy days: Part One

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Double Trouble (It's Gonna Be Ok)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18853045) by [kjm126316](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kjm126316/pseuds/kjm126316). 



> Hey uhh- if you're reading this, please please please go read kjm126316's story because this is heavily based from that- which you will realise if you have read that one. Their's is an AU and mine is an AU of the AU. So basically I just swap some things round to basically make the story go in a slightly different direction. also I'm adding my own ideas for this plot line. Yeah. Hope you enjoy the read.

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October 1989 forty-three women around the world gave birth, this was unusual only in the fact that none of these women had been pregnant when the day first began. Sir Reginald Hargreeves- eccentric millionaire and adventurer- resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible. 

  
He got eight of them.

  
These siblings became known as the Umbrella Academy from the time their extraordinary powers began to surface- promptly trained to fight against the crime of America and become some of the most powerful individuals on the earth- though the topic of the children was largely hidden until Hargreeves decided it was right to debut his master pieces. Of course- they were viewed as octuplets- eight children born on the same day of the same year at the same hour all adopted by one man and being raised as siblings- of course they would be. But- out of eight there was no doubt going to be a set of real, biological siblings- and they came in the form of the twins.

  
Number Four and Number Eight were not considered the best fighters amongst the group- more accustomed to protecting, watching and helping out with the clean up after the brawls; of course, that wasn’t to say they weren’t excellent fighters- both of them had the capability of taking down at least twenty people in around two minutes, but they still didn’t shine a light on the others- whose abilities were a lot more violent toward others than their own. 

  
The elder of the pair was Number Four- or dutifully named by Mother, Klaus. His abilities revolved around the dead- a medium able to talk to ghosts. Without the capabilities he would later express, it was especially difficult to aid his siblings and please his father- which is why he took pleasure on doting as an older brother to Number Eight, decidedly impressing his other half with strange tricks and other antics. 

  
Number Eight was given the name Nathan to be used by his family- quite a drastic difference between his brother, whose name came from German descent. His power was even more difficult to apply in a fight- as it wasn’t exactly effecting of other people. Immortality was, however- useful during business. he possessed a natural knack for attacking- mastering martial arts faster than most of his other siblings. But- the main reason he was needed on missions, was cover. The situations they were placed in were dangerous, especially for that of children wielding superpowers who faced off against criminals with guns. This was where Number Eight was needed- trained to throw himself in the way of any danger headed toward his siblings without hesitation, shielding them from oncoming danger and sacrificing his own life in place of another.  
The pair were always a sort of enigma to both their siblings and their father- being strangely light-hearted and sarcastic despite the death that clung to their every being. The powers they possessed were more unexpected than that of the others:

  
Number One having super-strength, Number Two having a bullseye aim without practice or hesitation, Number Three being able to manipulate mind states and control people with just a few words, Number Five being able to teleport and time-travel. 

  
The other two were a little like them, being slightly different. Number Six could open a portal to another dimension from his chest- allowing the tentacles of monsters to appear and consume any living creatures the boy wished them to; and Number Seven was powerless. 

  
The siblings pulled through together, but none were closer than the twins- and none were more tortured. 

* * *

Nathan didn’t discover his power until he was six years old- by which time three of the eight siblings had found an innate, unworldly skill to claim. Klaus had been able to see ghosts for about three months prior- and already he despised them with more vigour than Nathan thought possible. Luther had been the first to find his strength- already being able to lift Father’s heavy mahogany desk with just one hand. Father had been unbelievably pleased with Number One when it had surfaced. Number Five had been teleporting around the house for a year now- his attitude becoming worlds worse with his ability to suddenly walk through the space between people he was irritated with.   
There really was no other way he could have discovered his power- it was one of those things that had needed to happen, but he still found himself wishing it had never occurred. 

  
They had being heading down for dinner, walking down the long winding staircase that led down to the first floor- when a ghost had suddenly appeared, making Klaus leap out of his skin and crash into his brother- who promptly went tumbling down the steps at a speed Klaus didn’t know was possible. He fell down three flights- screaming in terror as he fell down the first set- before the wretched sound was cut off with a sicking crack as his head crashed against the bottom step, and he kept tumbling- limbs crashing limply. And the thing was- he probably would have been fine, he was just unconscious- badly injured but ok. But when he landed at the bottom of the staircase, his heavy body was flung- his neck snapping like a twig, and leaving him lifeless. Dead. 

  
And Klaus had screamed, running to his deceased twin, and bringing his body into his arms- just sobbing over and over- unable to compute any words aside from the single word of ‘Nate’ ‘Nate’. Everyone had arrived at the noise- and father had torn him away from the corpse- causing the small boy to scream. Over and over- fighting, kicking his small legs and just begging over and over to go to his brother- yelling for his father to bring him back- to make it stop. With his wriggling, his father had had no desire to hold onto him, so he was swiftly handed to Luther to be restrained as he screamed his small heart out- tears bursting from his eyes and snot flying from his nose. Luther held him -tightly- but it was more of a restraining hug as the boy stared at his dead brother- barely paying attention to the other half of the set who was sobbing in agony in his arms.   
They had taken his body away and held a funeral for him a day or two after the incident. The children had all cried, though none quite as violently as Klaus. Nathan was buried- and his ghost never appeared to his brother to enjoy the company of. Klaus still remembered his fathers still face- eyes not full of grief for the loss of a son, but of disappointment at the loss of a potential asset. That was when Klaus realised that his father did not love him, or any of his other siblings. 

  
It was two weeks later that it had happened. A ghost appearing beside the still grieving six year old and lazily stated that there was screaming coming from under the courtyard- smirking at the notation that there might be a new ghost joining the plethora of others gathered round the house. Klaus had wasted no time in grabbing Ben- or Number Six as he was legally known- unable to shake the terrified feeling coursing through his veins. He couldn’t stop thinking that he ghost could be Nathan- and he needed to get there as soon as possible. He needed to get there and he needed to see his brother again. He needed to. He needed to. 

  
And when they had arrived there had been nothing- no sound- no ghost. Everything was normal, and Klaus had let a tear slip down his cheek in both disappointment and hopelessness. His brother was truly gone. He had summoned the ghost again in desperation- screaming for the entity to tell the truth. The ghost was one of the mild ones- one of those that liked to pop up at random times, and he was clearly rather startled by the anger and desperation radiating from the child before him. When he insisted that he wasn’t lying- and there was definitely something moving under the dirt- Klaus became frantic to dig up his brother- insisting that he was alive and that he was moving. 

  
Ben assisted him, though he didn’t exactly believe it- he wanted it to be true, he longed for his brother just as much as the rest of the household. So they dug- and slowly they started to hear the muffled sounds of frantic movement and dulled yells- so they dug faster, and Klaus was crying now- chest heaving, though his face was set with a heavy determination to release his twin. 

“NUMBER FOUR, NUMBER SIX- WHAT ON EARTH DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” both of them froze at their fathers booming voice- and Klaus stood up faster than he ever had before, turning to face his father’s cruel gaze. 

  
“Nathan- he’s alive.” He gasped out and his father frowned. 

  
“Number eight is dead. Dead people do not return from the state they end up in.” Klaus flinched at his fathers calmly angered tone. “Number Six pick yourself up from the dirt and get inside immediately. Both of you will face serious consequences for disturbing Number Eights peace.” 

  
“No- dad listen- please! You can hear him, please!” Klaus screamed as his father turned a scrutinising gaze at him. There was a moment of silence as Hargreeves assessed his son’s disobedience. In the quiet- the near silent sounds of Nathan’s yelling became apparent- and father’s face twitched slightly as realisation filled his eyes. 

  
Klaus had never- and would never see a second time- his father exert any physical exercise, or get any sort of muck on his pristinely cleaned clothes, but the man fell to his knees of the floor- using the his hands to scrape away loose dirt faster than the two six year old ever could have- and reaching the casket he heaved it out, letting it drop heavily onto the ground beside him with a thud. The screaming was so loud now- the words clearer than before, clear enough to make out. it was a constant throat-tearing yell of his brother’s name- over and over, begging to be let out, begging to be removed from his grave. 

  
Klaus stumbled toward the box and wrenched open the door with a speed he didn’t know he possessed. Almost instantly he got an armful of twin- the boy sobbing vigorously against his chest, clutching his hair, and tugging over and over. He was still repeating his mantra of begging, even though he had escaped- and Klaus could do nothing but hold his brother, his alive brother, and sob in relief and slight terror. 

  
“Immortality. Astounding.” 

* * *

They received their names when the were five. Father had ordered that they be named as soon as Luther discovered his power (which was a month or so before Five), and Mother was to name them- as he couldn’t be bothered with such inconsequential things. The only real reason they had been blessed with such casualties was because they had been begging ever since they could fluently talk- wanting names that weren’t things as boring and de-personalised as numbers. 

  
It was an exciting day- all of them lined in number order- uniforms pristinely buttoned down. The twins were not permitted to stand near each other in official business, they were to be four people apart- since Eight was the last to appear on the number scale and Four was- well Four. 

  
There seemed to be a hum of excitement throughout them all throughout breakfast, eyes that continuously caught each other- small smiles of knowing, for they were very intelligent five year olds. After breakfast they were instructed to stand in the parlour until Mother arrived. And so they did- not talking but standing in anticipation for what was to come- and after five minutes, Mother arrived. 

  
She went along the line- handing everyone a card with large letter blocks of writing written on, so they could see their new names for themselves- and she spoke them allowed too, along with their meanings. 

  
“Number One- you will be named Luther; an army of people- to display strength.” Luther beamed, taking the card with gentle hands, and wiping away a blonde strand to stare at the black letters. 

  
“Number Two- you’re Diego, which means loyalty.” She handed him his card and a small from appeared between his brow as he stared at the letters, but he had a soft smile on his face. 

  
“Number Three- Allison, meaning noble- like a princess.” Allison clutched her card to her chest smiling so much it seemed as if her face might fall off. 

  
“Number Four-“ he straightened, leaning forward eagerly, “You will be called Klaus, the victory of the people.” Klaus took the card, starstruck- and stared at the letters of his own name, smiling shyly to himself. 

  
“Number Five- you said you didn’t want a name- so instead we can shorten it to just Five. To make you less of a number.” Five nodded with a soft smile, while all his siblings looked at him in utter confusion. Who on earth wouldn’t want a name?

  
“Number Six- you are Benjamin- Son of the south.” She handed him his card and Ben grinned cheekily- tucking it away into his pocket. 

  
“Number Seven- you are Vanya- the gracious gift of god.” Vanya beamed in happiness as she took the card and stared at it with wide eyes.

  
“Number Eight- your name is Nathan, meaning He gave.” Nathan took his card and smiled softly down at it- letting the letters sink into his skull. 

  
They all left there will smiles on their faces- calling each other by their new names for fun and bursting into random fits of giggles. It was a happiness they so rarely felt- but so enjoyed to experience, with the fact that they had been gifted this small step of freedom- and Nathan vowed never to change his name from the one Mother had s lovingly given to him- and he stared at that small card with his name written on. 

* * *

There was group training every evening- minus one sibling who would be taken away for personal training to strengthen their power and nothing else. Thursdays group training included all of them, this day was reserved for team buildings- creating battle combinations and learning about different weaponry. Father was obsessed with success in the missions they would eventually begin to make in a years’ time. Of course, since there were seven of them, one person was let off personal training a week.

  
The training had begun when they were seven years old, by this time everyone had gained a power besides Vanya, who decidedly did not possess any special ability and therefore didn’t need to train alongside her siblings. She was to go and occupy herself with other educational things alone- specialising in things like music and literature while her siblings learned to gouge a man’s eyes out. 

  
Nathan and Klaus had begun to realise just how well they worked as a pair, being able to create combinations to dodge and attack in turn- keeping each other protected while they took turns swiftly taking out the dummies set out for practice. Their father wasn’t too pleased with these results however, wanting them to be able to work with everyone instead of just each other. And so they were placed with different people- or simply, the entire group of seven was just placed in a simulation room and told to fight. These times were the most difficult- and also proved just how much they needed to improve, the training usually ending in Nathan having to dive in front of a sibling to dodge a stab coming their way and taking significant damage- dying regularly. 

  
This was his main job for missions- protect, keep safe, die if necessary- and he was doing an excellent job of practicing that in training. This wasn’t good enough for father however- in the terms of his other siblings. 

  
“Number Eight shouldn’t need to be saving you this frequently- how can I trust you to represent myself if you are at constant risk of death?”

  
And the thing was, it never stopped- it couldn’t really, and father knew that. That’s why he trained Nathan in the way he did. 

  
Personal training consisted of different things for different people- but it was always severely difficult and, in most cases, extremely painful. Number Eight was by now very practiced in death- being killed in a variety of different ways and learning to fall into the pathway of oncoming bullets. It was horrific, but it was life- and he would get through it. 

“Focus Number Eight! Do you want one of your siblings to die?” Nathan shook his head frantically barely able to see through his blurred vision. He had been diving and rolling and fighting for hours- and he had been killed three times already. There was a bullet buried in his hip- and another in his shoulder, and really he should have died by now- but there was a strange healing factor that came paired with immortality. And he was ready to throw himself in the way of a gun again at his father’s request- because he really didn’t want someone to die- because if they did it would be his fault, _his fault, his fault, his fault_ \- and so he had to _run in the way_ he had to _save them_. 

  
“Prepare yourself Number Eight.”

  
And the gun loaded, and he ran, and the bullet flew, and it embedded itself in his stomach- throwing him backwards. He choked on blood for a few seconds before his vison blacked out, sound dying away in chunks and his breathing becoming lighter and lighter- his chest compressing as his wounds screamed and his head became fuzzy and heavy. He gasped in one more ragged, uneven breath before letting go of his life. 

  
About five minutes later he woke, gasping for the air that had been robbed from his lungs and wincing at the small amount of pain that spanned from the places where the bullets had been embedded. The bullets were unable to remove themselves from his body- and his father didn’t care enough to remove them in the moment of his training- so he always expected the pain of having the masses of small metal chunks being ripped from his half-healed skin later in in the evenings. The sessions usually ended in him dying anyway- with the bullets removed and an almost invisible blemish left behind on his skin. His father didn’t like leaving scars- in fact he only had around three, always in areas that would be difficult to spot- except for one, but that had been an accident on his father’s part. The little imperfections left were smaller than pinpricks- un-noticeable unless you were searching with nothing less than the perfect light. 

  
He stood up and readied himself for the next bullet. 


	2. The Umbrella Academy Days: Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter of angst! enjoy, please, enjoy.   
> This entire thing inspired me to re-watch Umbrella Academy, and man- I never realised how sad of a character Klaus actually is. The only people we get shown training is Vanya and Klaus, but from their training we can see how awful it actually was. Also- Klaus is so lonely, he spends the entire of the season inviting himself on missions with his siblings because no one actually wants him around. He's forced to hang out with his dead brother all the time, and no one even believes him when he says Ben's there. He literally has active PTSD- bathtub scene being an example. I never actually realised why he took drugs before, but now I'm just sad lol.   
> Anyway- sorry, got distracted, please, take it  
> \- Signal

The twins sat in Klaus’ room, Klaus perched on the bed and Nathan on the window sill- staring out. Rain pattered down the glass, the steady sound becoming almost therapeutic- soothing. All eight of them had turned eleven a week ago- the years slipping by with barely anyone bothering to keep track- it marked three years of constant missions. Every week or so they would be marched out, told to guard something or other and somehow get into a brawl of some kind. 

  
They had just gotten back from their latest one, still sitting stiffly in their slightly blood-stained uniforms, not bothering to change. It had been gruelling for both of them, and father wasn’t happy with their performances, but really- it wasn’t their fault. 

  
They were meant to be guarding an ancient pot of some kind from one of those large tombs under a church- which, unsurprisingly, was filled with ghosts of all kinds- which Klaus had not taken kindly to. It also wasn’t their fault that the robber had the initiative to shove Nathan onto a spire by his chest, successfully piercing his lungs and pinning him in place- but also stopping him from helping his siblings much, resulting in a semi-deep stab wound on Luther’s arm. Both of them were still rather shaken up from the experience- especially since father was still worrying about One, who really, wasn’t all that hurt- and would definitely be finding the time to punish them both once they had cleaned up. 

  
“C’mon Klau- we need to clean off this gunk before dad gets even more mad at us.” Nathan muttered, and Klaus nodded absently- allowing himself to be hoisted up by his twin. They steered their way into the elder’s bathroom before he found himself seated on the edge of the bathtub- and Nathan slapped his cheek around three times. He waved his hand in protest. 

  
“Nate, stop. I’m fine.” He sighed, running a hand through his curls, “You go get cleaned up and I will. There's blood all over your chest.” He mumbled the last bit and sensed when Nathan nodded un-easily. 

“Ok.” And he patted him on the shoulder a few times before exiting the room, letting the door click softly shut behind him. Nathan let out a shaking exhale- leaning heavily against the door and keeping his eyes averted from the masses of crusted blood lining the now torn front of his uniform. He didn’t want to try to imagine the death again- the pain, having to watch his siblings struggle while he was pinned like a fly. Helpless. 

  
He climbed into his own shower- having made his way across the hall and into his own bedroom. The water was cool- its icy clearness turning red as the blood slowly flaked away, successfully staining the off-white tub. He forced his gaze downward, huffing out a relieved sigh when he was greeted with only a small sliver of a scar. It was still wretched, the sides appearing like they had been torn open on something blunt- which they had- very small, just about the size of half of his pinkie finger. Nathan’s head came to rest against the wall- savouring the smooth coldness of the tiles against his forehead. 

….

  
The tinny sound of the bell rung- and all eight children rushed down the stairs to stand in perfect formation near the dining table. The seven included on the mission lined up horizontally in number order- backs straight and arms at their sides, no one looked each other in the eye- they knew better than to be unprofessional. Vanya stood off the right, standing stiffy nearer to the table, waiting for father to arrive in the same manner but not actively involving herself with the group. Nathan and Klaus were a lot more silent than they usually were. 

  
Eventually, father seemed to enjoy making them wait, he arrived- standing in front of them- is eyes seemingly searching for any sort of imperfections. He seemed to hover- making the nerves in the room increase by miles, as he waited to speak. 

  
“I am unimpressed by your performance today. How is the Umbrella Academy to fight crime when they cant even entertain three low-level thieves in an enclosed vault. Number One-“ he paused again, turning the scrutinising gaze to Luther, who stiffened, “Your leadership skills were abysmal. The plan was rushed and there was no coordination.” He moved on.

  
“Number Two- your knife work was sloppy. Were you aiming for your enemy or your siblings?” he chastised- then turning his gaze to Allison.

  
“Number Three- you didn’t do as badly as the others, but work of your creativity.” She nodded quickly- barely hiding a smile at the praise. 

  
“Number Four. You must learn to work around the ghosts- your performance was inexcusable. We are professionals.” He averted his eyes, willing his hands to stop shaking at the silent promise of punishment. 

  
“Number Five, you must learn to work in a team. Ignoring the others is not acceptable.” His gaze hovered on the boy who was simply staring at him daringly, not caring about the threat laced into his fathers words. 

  
“Number Six. I don’t care how much you don’t enjoy these missions. Learn to control your horrors.” 

  
“Number Eight,” Nathan stiffened, “Dying for useless reasons is not why you are on the missions. Provide support and die trying- there are no chances or reasons to be caught up elsewhere.” Nathan wouldn’t dare catch his father’s eyes, just staring down at his shoes. 

  
“Four through to Eight- remain. The rest of you are dismissed, including Number Seven. There will be no supper tonight.” The lower numbers excused themselves, followed by Vanya- all of them looking solemn, yet glad that they weren’t required to remain for any sort of training or punishment. Their father turned his steely gaze toward his less fortunate children. 

  
“Number Five- you are to practice your jumps for an hour with no stopping, and then you are to discuss mission plans with Number One.” He said, barely even looking at his son- who didn’t budge an inch. “Now Number Five.” He finally shifted, rolling his eyes brilliantly- but moving all the same. 

  
“Number Six. You are to enter the training room and learn to control your horrors. I will let you out when I see fit. Go now.” Ben nodded frantically and scuffled away to the training room, a grim anger set on his face as he left. 

  
“Number Four, you will learn to be around ghosts- three hours at least in the mausoleum.” Both twins stiffened at that, a small shake overcoming Klaus’ entire body.  
“You can’t-“ Nathan began, only to be cut off by his father’s stern voice, 

  
“You already have given yourself four hours in the cupboard, unless you wish to be rewarded more then I suggest you stay silent, Number Eight.” Nathan’s jaw snapped shut- fear pooling in his eyes. He nodded silently, and his hand reached out to his twins- who clutched back almost violently. Both of them had landed themselves in shit, and this hand squeeze was almost a promise to sneak into each other’s room later. Sleeping was always easier next to some one else. 

  
Nathan felt his shoulders grabbed by someone- likely Mother, who was insanely strong due to her robotic properties, no matter how dainty she seemed. Klaus was lead away by father and immediately Nathan began to struggle- wanting to rip his twin away from the clutches of their father and away from the torturous screams of the ghosts.

  
“Please! No! Let me go! Let me go!” he thrashed, but he was already being dragged backwards- through the house, and to the cupboard. Now he was really struggling, desperate to escape- needing to be released from the grasp, needing to be freed and to run away from that dreaded cupboard- needing to get to his twin, needing to get out, get out, get out. he knew he was screaming like a banshee- trying to get out of the clutch of mother-

  
And it was right there- the door open, and now he felt a giant scream tear from his throat.

  
“NO! PLEASE! PLEASE! I’ll be good I promise, please, please, please, please! I can’t, please! Please!” but he was already being shoved inside- and the door was shut, the sound of the lock resounding through the small space. And suddenly, there was no air- and the walls were enclosing on him, he couldn’t breathe enough to scream because he was trapped underground- and he was in the coffin and he was never getting out because everyone thought he was dead and he couldn’t breathe and he would never get out, and he was going to die again, and then he would just come out, and no one knew and he couldn’t get out. the walls were too close, and he couldn’t move and it was so hot, so hot and he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t breathe, and he needed help, help, help. 

  
His body was shutting down, and he still couldn’t get out- his arms and back and legs pressing against the inside of the small space, pressing down and it felt like every bit of contact was burning him- and he could almost smell the soil, the rot, the sound of bugs and spiders eating away at the wood of his coffin. The last thing he saw as he passed out was a flash of silk- memories of the casket burned into his retinas. 

* * *

  
When they were thirteen- they received their tattoos. They had been public for a while, but after their debut, they weren’t really known well- specialising more in stealth missions, where they wore different uniforms. The alternate uniforms were all black jumpsuits, stiff with compression straps and sturdy boots. There was a small umbrella insignia on the breast pocket- and they were still required to wear their masks, along with thick black gloves. It was very rare they wore their usual uniforms on missions- because that was for publicity, the regular outfits of the umbrella Academy were for show, and so whenever they were planning to make an appearance on TV- they would wear them. 

  
Now they had hit thirteen, they were looking to be far more public- their father wanting them all to become sort of celebrities- to ‘inspire the world’. So now, they had to get tattoos. 

  
They all sat stiffly in their seats, Nathan next to Ben and Luther over the other side- flanked by Five. Diego was currently being drawn on, and looked to be in a lot of pain from it, enough that he wouldn’t allow mother to touch his shoulder in comfort- which was a sign awarding concern for him. Allison and Klaus had already had their tattoos done- and Allison was crying quietly into the others chest, Klaus holding out his wrist carefully while awkwardly holding and shushing her. 

  
The image was of an umbrella, with a small red handle- of course. There was no choice involved- and the ink used was meant to be especially pigmented- unable to be removed via laser. It was one hundred percent permanent. Never to be removed- and he knew that no one but their father wanted this, even Luther was looking vaguely green.   
Diego sucked in a sharp breath, a small bead of blood running down his arm- and Nathan looked away, choosing instead to stare at his bare wrist- trying to memorise it before the canvas of skin was painted over. He shuddered at the thought, barely repressing it. 

  
Diego got up of the chair then and went to stand near the other two, leaning against the wall heavily- a semi-pained expression on his face. Nathan winced in sympathy- and Allison swapped brothers, allowing Klaus to sink to the floor, looking over to his twin tiredly. He still held his wrist stiffly, eyes drooping slightly from what was probably emotional exhaustion. Nathan smiled at him sympathetically, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. 

  
“Number One.” Luther was called up, and he nodded- quickly making his way to the seat- sitting down just as fast. The tattoo artist flicked his eyes up at the boy before taking his arm and slipping up the sleeve- exposing his inner left forearm. The stencil went on next, and Luther seemed to prepare himself before the needle touched the skin. He flinched ever so slightly but stilled afterwards. The entire way through his limbs remained stiff- an unknown look to his face. Something akin to a grimace of pain. 

  
Eventually, he was the only one sitting in the seats- Five nearly done with his tattoo now, a small twist to his mouth and crevice between his brows- a little display of pain, not matter how hard he was attempting to disguise it. Nathan looked down. 

  
“Number Eight.” He stood up, watching Five walk away, clutching his wrist to his chest. The seat was warm from the rest of his siblings occupying it- almost uncomfortably so. He shifted, wanting to escape the heat of the temporary seat. The man’s fingers, however, were frigid as he took his arm- rolling up his sleeve and wiping it down with an antiseptic wipe and pressed on the template. He shivered slightly. When the needle came down, Nathan barely felt it- looking away instead to examine his nails. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the artist raise an eyebrow at the lack of the reaction, the man clearly not expecting his insanely high pain tolerance. Even when it stung sometimes- he didn’t do so much as wince. 

  
When he rose from the seat, he just rolled down his sleeve, ignoring the way the material chaffed against the newly wounded patch of skin- and walked over to his twin, using an arm to hoist him from his position on the floor. Klaus took it gladly- allowing himself to be levered up before slinging an arm round his twin in a half hug.

  
“Can you stop not feeling a human amount of pain please?” Klaus muttered humorously.

  
“No can do sorry-“ he waved his left arm slightly, “already healing itself up.” He smiled slightly- though it was off. It hadn’t hurt much- not any less than anyone else’s had, but it was difficult to feel too much pain from a small tattoo when he was used to being murdered day in and day out. Klaus was being over-dramatic, and in actuality, he had probably smoked a joint before heading down, so maybe he was just a tiny bit high too- but despite it he stood up, still holding his arm stiffly. 

  
“You are dismissed. You will treat these markings properly.” That was all their father snapped before excusing himself from the room, flicking his cane as he left. They all trailed up the stairs, heading to their rooms to lie down- maybe to relax in each other’s company, something they so rarely got to do. 

  
As they passed, they caught Vanya lurking on the steps, though none of them payed her much mind, Luther didn’t even have the initiative to demand what she was doing there. Nathan just strolled over and tapped her on the shoulder, muttering a small ‘come on’ before steering her along with the group. There was a flicker of something in her eyes, something akin to happiness- though her expressionless face portrayed no such thing. Ben had hung back too, walking close to Klaus- not talking but just hovering near the twins, as he usually did. Both of them were about a head taller than Ben, with the same being true for Vanya- being the same height and extremely lanky for their age. They were taller than Luther, something he despised with a resound vigour. 

  
When they reached their rooms, siblings began to break off in different directions, heading into their separate chambers. It was satisfying to watch the group filter out, though Eight and Four headed into Nathan’s bedroom together, not bothering to care about staying in their own quarters. 

  
Klaus immediately collapsed onto his twin’s bed, and Nathan rolled his eyes at the drama. He perched himself at the window, leaning backwards and letting his muscles relax.   
“You alive over their Klaus?” he called softly, receiving a muffled ‘mph’ in response. He sighed. 

  
“Did you smoke a blunt?” he asked softly, and sensed more than saw Klaus nod. 

  
“It’s the only thing that makes them go away.”

  
“I know. Just don’t let dad catch you, ok?”

  
“Yeah- I promise I won’t.”

  
“Good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hola, you've reached the end.   
> Oh, by the way- I feel like everyone writes young Ben as really timid and scared, when in reality he really wasn't. If you watch the show and look at his teenage character, he' kinda bitchy and sarcastic. Does no one remember the scene where he made a direct dig at Vanya?! Anyway. Bitchy Ben supremacy.


	3. Welcome to England

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To understand what's happened, please go read kjm126316's story, it will make so much more sense. if you don't want to do the (a stubborn yet stupid move) heres a quick overview so it makes sense:  
> The Umbrella Academy re-debut when they were thirteen, after they got the tattoos- it was the bank scene in the original show.  
> Klaus falls heavily into drugs.  
> Nathan gets murdered way too often, by his father and others.  
> the twins promise to run away when their 18.  
> Ben dies and Five goes missing.  
> Klaus starts disappearing and Reginald start treating Nathan even worse, to the point where he starts sneaking out too.  
> they run away when they're 18 and move to England.
> 
> there done. the only reason I didn't write it was because it is almost exactly the same as kjm126316's storyline and I feel like that's complete plagiarism. so yeah. Hope you enjoy  
> Also this chapters really short but that's just because I want to put specific things in specific chapters and it doesn't work if certain things happen in this chapter, lol.  
> -Signal

“For Christ sake Nate- why did you have to go and get arrested over pick and mix?” Klaus glared down at his brother disapprovingly- the manager in the seat adjacent to him looking as if he was trying to hold in a laugh. 

  
“That’s right- you tell him son.” The guy muttered, warding a snap of,

  
“Shut up Bev.” From the medium. Nathan was looking slightly uncomfortable in his brothers spotlight of scrutiny, sitting a bit more stiff than before. Klaus was walking back and forth across the room- looking like he desperately wanted to strangle his guilty twin.

  
“We don’t have the money- you know that Nathan. Jesus.” Nathan shrunk down a bit in his seat.

  
“I know. I know- I’m sorry I panicked.” He tried his best to defend himself- but it only made Klaus put his hands on his hips and stare at him, a small, irritated crease between his brows. 

  
“You panicked. And that made you eat pick and mix?” Klaus pushed, clearly angry. 

  
“Yes.” His twin announced, waving a hand in the air. Beverly was watching the interaction with slightly bewildered eyes now that Nathan didn’t seem to be bothered by his twin’s obvious annoyance regarding his behaviour. 

  
“Ich werde dich töten Nathan.” He frowned angrily at him, and Nathan just rolled his eyes at him,

  
“Nein wirst du nicht, du liebst mich.” He grinned sleepily at his brother who huffed at his antics, before chewing on his thumbnail aggressively. 

  
“Nate, you’re gonna get a charge from this. We don’t have the money to bail you out.” there was a new look in Klaus’ eyes, one of concern rather than genuine anger- and Nathan sat up to regard him. 

  
“I know. The worst they can do is give me an ASBO though- right? S’not like I’ll be herded off to prison. I am sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” He said the last bit slightly quieter, muttering it almost under his breath.

  
“I know, Nate.” He said, breathing out, before adding a well-deserved, “Fuck.” To the end of the sentence. 

* * *

They all stood in a line, leaning on the railing in front of the community centre's entrance- which hovered above a small lake. The view filtered out across grey skies, decorated with tower blocks in a typical British fashion. They all stood in a line, leaning on the railing in front of the community centre's entrance- which hovered above a small lake. The view filtered out across grey skies, decorated with tower blocks in a typical British fashion. All orange-clad figures looked half-bored, avoiding eye contact with the tense looking probation worker that stood before them.

  
“This is it.” He began, and Nathan held back a grin at his strange enthusiasm. “This is your chance to do something positive. Give something back. You can help people, you can really make a difference to people’s lives. That’s what community service is all about. There are people out there hat think you’re scum, you have an opportunity to show them their wrong-“

  
“Yeah but what if they’re right?” Nathan interrupted, looking toward the kid to the right of him and continuing, “No offence, but im thinking some people are just born criminals.” The guy looked over to him.

  
“You lookin’ to get stabbed?” he snapped, straightening up a little. Nathan looked back the probation worker. 

  
“You see my point there?” just as he said the sentence one of the two girls’ phones rang out, the attention being attracted to her as she picked it up, beginning to speak into the receiver.

  
“Hey.” The probation worker half-ignored her.

  
“It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past-“ he paused for a second when she continued to talk, twirling her hair with one finger as she chewed a piece of chewing gum, leaning heavily against the railing. 

  
“Hey-“ his tone came out as warning, obviously asking her to stop in semi-aggressive way.

  
“Doing my community service- boring as fuck.” She continued into her phone, laughing slightly at whatever the person on the receiving end had quipped. 

  
“Excuse me?” the worker finally got her attention, “Hello, I’m still talking here.”

  
“Well I thought you’d finished?” she said, shaking her head lightly. 

  
“Can you see my lips still moving that means im still talking.” He seemed to be getting irritable now, and Nathan couldn’t quite quench the desire to make him even more so.   
“Yeah but you could have been yawning, or chewing…” Nathan drawled, listing off things as he swung his head at the sky. The probation worker ignored him, directing his attention back the girl instead. 

  
“End the call.” She laughed a little. “Hang up!” he shouted slightly- visibly getting worked up over the phone in her hand. she continued to speak into the device, laughing over something or other, and Nathan directed his attention toward someone else in the line. 

  
“You alright there weird kid?” he asked, pointing slightly to one of the guys further down the line. When he didn’t reply he looked over to his right again, staring directly at the guy who had threatened him earlier. He made a kissy face at him, rewarding a nerve to jump in his cheek.

  
“I’ll rip out your throat and shit down your neck.” The guy squared up to him and mentally Nathan laughed. _Never heard that one before. Wonder how that would feel- id probably die from the throat thing before he even had chance to shit down my neck, but waking up with shit in my neck would be unpleasant I have to say_. 

  
“Shouldn’t be here man.” The speaker worse his jumpsuit tied around his waist, half sitting on the railing and obviously not bothering much to stand up. 

  
“We need to work as a team here?” the probation worker called out desperately. 

  
“Can I move to a different group? This isn’t gonna work for me.” the guy said, pulling a disgusted expression and rewarding a response from the blonde whose hair was so tightly strung up Nathan was sure it would fall out. 

  
“Um- what makes you think that you’re better than us?” she said in a thick accent- not quite brummie, but not quite London either. 

  
“What is that accent?” Nathan wondered aloud, earning a slight laugh from the guy who had previously spoken.

  
“Is that for real?” he quipped, raising his eyebrows. 

  
“What you tryna say some now then yeah?” she asked, nodding her head aggressively to her words. 

  
“Is it, are you-“ he struggled with his words for a second, holding one finger to his ear, “that’s just a noise, are we meant to be able to understand her?” he asked, looking toward the probation worker. She flipped him off, looking away and muttering loudly, 

  
“D’you understand that?” he looked over the shit-neck dude, putting one hand to his chest and muttering,

  
“I think she likes me,” he slung an arm round the guys shoulders and he immediately struggled to get him off, shoving at his chest aggressively. Well this was going to be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is such a hard character to write!! especially when you add someone with almost the exact same attitude as him into the equation- because he is never the big brother in the actual show. Like, he's always the one getting yelled at. and my brain cannot write him properly lmao.


	4. Misfits: episode one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much the title of the chapter- not a lot of explaining need lol. This is where we really start to break away from the inspired story with my own ideas, so I'm pretty excited to get to this point to be honest. 
> 
> Also- there's only going to be one chapter per episode for every season of what I'm doing. The plan in two seasons of Misfits, two seasons of Umbrella Academy- and maybe more, depends how I feel. Anyway, enjoy  
> \- Signal
> 
> (Also, before you read- in Britain, fag means cigarette. It's not a homophobic slur. I would like to point this out as a British person so that no one thinks I'm using the slur- I'm not I promise. I didn't even realise people found it offensive until this week so yeah lmao)

* * *

The paint was watery, yet thick and very messy- the only person doing relatively well on their paint job being Weird Kid, who was crouched with his knees tucked to his chin- painting the back of the bench. Nathan was stood in front of the Chavy girl that had flipped him off earlier, and she was studiously ignoring him, staring almost violently down at the bench and painting without lifting her gaze. He pouted at her obvious dislike of his character. 

  
“Theres paint on my cap!” the angry guy from earlier stood up violently, ripping off his gap to stare at it in disdain before walking away angrily, kicking the paint can on his way. He then paused to kick at a tipped over shopping trolley, rewarding a laugh from phone girl. 

  
“So I’m guessing…. Shoplifting?” Nathan pondered, looking at the girl opposite. She looked up at him, a slightly irritable expression on her face. 

  
“Don’t act like you know me cus’ you don’t.” she said, looking up at him for the first time. 

  
“I’m just making conversation, this is a chance to network with other young offenders. We should be swapping tips. Brainstorming.” he reasoned, flicking his paintbrush lazily.

“C’mon what did you do?” he tried to sound more sincere, sensing her annoyance. 

  
“This girl called me a slag so I just got into a fight.” She said, turning away moodily. 

  
“Was this on the Jeremy Kyle show?” he asked, a small smirk playing at his lips at his own joke. 

  
“No, it was down Argos.” She snapped at him.

  
“You know what you should have done- you should’ve got one of those pens they have and jabbed it in her eye.” Suggested, making a little stabbing motion with his hand to demonstrate his point. She looked at him it what seemed to be disbelief for a few seconds. 

  
“Gouging always worked better. Faster too.” Nathan jumped out of his skin, whipping round to find it twin lounged out lazily on one of the flower beds, top riding up and wearing those ridiculous leather pants with revealed sides. 

  
“Jesus- Klaus what the fuck don’t just appear out of nowhere like that!” he exclaimed, holding a hand to his chest in mock terror- though he did startle at the sudden voice.   
“Uhh- who are you?” Phone girl quipped, holding her paintbrush limply in her right hand and leaning into her hip. 

  
“That’s my brother.” Nathan explained, continuing with his paintbrush, “he tends to materialise you can just ignore him.” 

  
“Oh woe- Nathan, dear brother don’t ignore me, I’d have to find time to do something and I’d end up starting a cult or something.” He whined dramatically tilting his head back and closing his eyes- revealing the Goodbye tattoo on his left hand as he brought it to his face. Nathan snorted at his antics. 

“The thing is you actually would.” Everyone was staring at them in slight confusion, not really understanding what was happening or why. Klaus swung his legs over the edge o th planter and stood up- unfurling his long body and walking slowly towards his brother, coming to lean heavily on him. Now everyone looked even more confused- with the fact that they were the exact same height at had the same face- it was rather amusing really. Nathan laughed slightly. 

  
“We’re twins.” He explained, gesturing with his paintbrush. Everyone seemed to collectively agree that this seemed like the most plausible explanation and went back to painting over the bench-graffiti. 

  
A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, a cloud slowly building over the tower blocks. Nathan looked up to the sky holding a hand over his eyes.

  
“What’s up with this weather?” he asked, still staring up at the sky he felt Klaus shrug next to him, and decided to leave the conversation- not bothering to keep it up. Footsteps echoed from behind them:

  
“How’s that happen?” it was the probation worker- gesturing at the tipped over paint can, “You’ve been here five minutes. It’s painting benches. How d’you screw that up- you tell me because I’ve got no idea.” He looked over to Nathan questioningly, before startling at the sight of Klaus. “You are you?” he asked- looking slightly irritated. 

  
“I’m his brother-“ Klaus said tiredly, smiling up at the probation worker. Just as he completed his sentence a hailstone dropped out of the sky, crushing a car. It was about the size of someone’s head- big enough to bend metal and crush glass. The siren went off and everyone whipped round to stare at it. 

  
“That’s my car!” the probation worker sounded outraged now, and Nathan couldn’t help but let out a small laugh- muttering, “Classic.” Under his breath. His antics stopped as more hailstones began to fall- smashing loudly against the ground and making them all jump out of the way. Nathan squawked and hid slightly behind his twin, grabbing his shoulders.

  
“Ok, I’m a bit freaked out!” he yelled- not letting go of Klaus. Phone girl was staring into the sky-

  
“What is that?” she asked, and everyone turned to look at the massive black cloud that had begun to cling to the sky- ejecting giant stones of ice every second or so. More began raining down around them, and they all screamed slightly. 

  
“Fuck- run!” the probation worker prompted them- and they wasted no time in bolting toward the community centre, Nathan practically dragging Klaus when he hesitated to move. They were all running, fast- the breath escaping their lungs as the giant blocks fell around them, narrowly dodging being hit. The concrete on the pavement was tearing up with the impact of the hail- their clothes beginning to soak through with the fine bits of moisture flying from them. 

  
The doors were barred against them- runner guy rattling them with an astounding amount of force while they all ran under the small bit of jutting roof- trying desperately to escape the heavy chunks of hail. A stone smashed into Nathan’s shoulder just as he was about to make it underneath, causing him to stumble into Klaus, wincing a little at the sting. The probation worker was struggling with his keys, fiddling at the door while everyone was screaming for him to get it open and let them into safety. 

  
“Open the fucking door!” phone girl yelled, and the probation worker whipped around, jabbing a finger towards her aggressively. 

  
“Don’t speak to me like that!” he screamed, and then everything stopped. 

  
The lightning threw them all backwards- ripping through them and fizzing in their veins. They were all screaming- seemingly hovering in the air for a few seconds as the power surged through them. They then slammed into the ground, groaning in pain for a second or two before sitting up slowly and assessing their surroundings. 

  
“I feel really weird.” Chav girl said, holding a hand to her head and leaning heavily against her elbow. 

  
“That would be the lightning.” Runner guy quipped. Nathan looked over to Klaus who was nursing his elbow with a frown. His eyes met Nathan- a question clear in his eyes- are you ok? Nathan nodded, before returning the same questioning expression and Klaus gave a short nod. His twin looked over to the probation worker, who was rising a lot slower than the rest of them. 

  
“Are you ok?” he called out, and the probation worker looked to him.

  
“Wanker.” Nathan blinked. 

  
“Did he just call you a wanker?” he asked, slightly stunned- and weird kid shook his head, looking uncomfortable. 

  
“I think he’s having a spasm.” The man in question had stood up now, his hand shaking horribly. He looked to them, seemingly running his eyes over all of them and checking none of them had grown second heads or anything of the sort. 

  
“I think we should call it a day.” They all agreed wholeheartedly. 

* * *

Nathan and Klaus owned a grubby little flat in the shadier suburbs of London- not too far from the community centre actually, within walking distance. It was one bedroomed- with a small bathroom and kitchen and a sub-par living area, kitted out with a half-working fridge and a beaten up TV. But, it was home- sort of. They had had to move an uncomfortable number of times, being in and out of hotels and once, on the streets. This was the second flat they had owned in their lifetimes, the first one being so awful they had decided to simply rough it. It was on the third story of a little complex, much nicer than the council-admissioned tower blocks. Rickety iron steps led up to the balcony that housed their front door- number 56. 

  
Still slightly sore from their encounter with lighting earlier on in the day, the strolled leisurely up the steps, making idle conversation quietly- not feeling like disturbing their neighbours in the moment. Klaus spotted it first, freezing at the door and causing Nathan to look over in alarm, wary of danger. 

  
An eviction notice was strapped to the door- blaring red letters screaming misfortune. Nathan let out a shaky breath- hand coming to grasp and rip off the off-white paper. Klaus was looking with moonish eyes, panic reading clear in their brown-green. 

  
“Shit.” Nathan whipped round at the unfamiliar voice- crying out when he came face-to-face with his brother. His dead brother. He found himself stepping back in a panic, leaning heavily against the wall as both of his brothers turned to stare at him in utter shock. 

  
“I…. I can see Ben. I can fucking see Ben.” He breathed out shakily- receiving two pairs of dangerously widened eyes staring at him wildly. Klaus straightened up- looking between his two brothers who were staring at each other with a sort of fierce intensity, as if they thought either one could just vanish from existence at any second. 

  
“But- how? The old man checked for dormant powers years ago-“ he muttered- feeling slightly light headed. Both of them hadn’t stopped glaring at each other- suspicion clear in their eyes. 

  
“I don’t know- I…… the storm……. Klaus the fucking storm!” Nathan exclaimed, gasping. “Fuck- I can see Ben, I can see ghosts! Oh my god, I can see Ben! Fuck!” his eyes had glazed over now- staring less in suspicion and more in awe and utter happiness at his brother. Ben had straightened out now. 

  
“Hey Nate.” He gave a small awkward wave and more tears sprung to Nathan’s eyes. Klaus frowned. 

  
“Wait- if the storm gave you my powers, then what about me? Am I immortal then?” Nathan shrugged.

  
“I would say only one way to find out, but that’s a really, really bad idea. Maybe- I punch you, and see if you heal fast from the bruise?” he offered, knowing that murdering his brother was a stupid thing to attempt to do- they didn’t actually know what was happening, or if they even swapped powers, though it was a logical thought due to the situation. There was every chance Klaus would not be at all immortal- and then Nathan would have the guilt of having murdered his brother for no good reason. 

  
“Seems logical.” Klaus quipped, “how long does it usually take you to heal from a bruise?”

  
“an hour for a punch. “ he said conversationally. Ben was watching the exchange with raised eyebrows. 

  
“Ok, lets go inside first.” 

  
When they were inside the seated themselves on the sofa, Klaus staring expectantly- seemingly waiting for his twin to throw a punch. Nathan considered him for a moment, before deciding to punch his arm- safer and easier to hide if it didn’t heal with the power of immortality. He nodded to himself, and then swiftly punched his brother in the arm- hard. 

  
“Sweet Jesus Nathan- you’ll sober me up with that!” Klaus cursed under his breath, still clutching his abused arm accusingly. Nathan shrugged, grinning. 

  
“Did you idiots forget you got evicted? There are more pressing matters at hand than whether Klaus can super-heal a bruise.” Nathan jumped out of his skin- whipping around to face Ben, who was perched lazily on the back of the sofa one eyebrow raised. 

  
“Shit!” he clutched one hand to his chest, before jumping back up with another profound- “Shit!” Klaus had jumped up too, both of them having seemingly forgotten about their house predicament. They both looked at each other, neither knowing what to do. 

  
“Fuck!” Klaus offered. Very helpful. 

* * *

Nathan woke groggily- blinking sleep out of his eyes and groaning. His back was stiff with the uncomfortable mattress he had slept on beside his twin. They had decided to stay at the community centre on the second floor- not the most stable of housings but it was better than being at risk of having no where to stay. They had floor under their feet, instead of a carpet that could be ripped out from under their feet at any point. 

  
Klaus’ fist shaped bruise still hadn’t healed- and he had slept on it, confirming the fact that he was in no way immortal. If he couldn’t heal a small bruise in over twelve hours then he was definitely not capable of bringing himself back from the dead. To say he was disappointed was an understatement, since he was now sulking around the place, moaning about his misfortune. Ben was an enjoyable new aspect to Nathan’s life though- commenting on Klaus’ childlike actions just like old times. 

  
Nathan yawned as he travelled outside, bumping into the other members of the community service group- minus the psychopathic one. He wondered where he had gotten to. He slipped a cigarette in between his lips, getting out a light while he let it hang. They were all staring at the wooden boarded wall at the side of the centre, looking slightly put off and just a little disturbed. The messily graffitied words read out I’M GOING TO KILL YOU in dripping red ink. Nathan fought the urge to whistle. 

  
“This is a joke.” Runner guy spoke up, shaking his head slightly, “Did one of you do this?” his voice was dripping with accusation. Chav girl scoffed. 

  
“Don’t look at me cus’ I didn’t do it.” She drawled, looking offended- although the comment hadn’t been directed to her specifically.

  
“I’ll tell you who did it,” Nathan quipped, whipping out his cigarette, “it’s that Banksy prick- there’s a hidden meaning. Its like that monkey policeman, with the banana and the Tesco’s bag.” He moved to slide an arm around weird kid, letting his voice turn mysterious. 

  
“Maybe someone wants to kill us.” Weird kid spoke up, stiff as a board under Nathan’s hold. 

  
“Why would anybody want to kill us?” Chav girl spat back, staring at the guy like he’d just suggested someone was trying to murder them for no reason. Well- if someone tried to kill him or Klaus he wouldn’t exactly be surprised, he’d be a little put off that they found them, but otherwise not so much. 

  
“C’mon, you lot, let’s get changed.” The probation worker walked briskly towards them, voice full of annoyance at the fact they had been standing around instead of actively changing into their orange jumpsuits. 

  
“Have you seen this?” Runner guy questioned, gesturing broadly to the wall. He seemed particularly offended by the terrible paint job. 

  
“Yeah it’s terrible isn’t it,” the man paused to stare at the group meaningfully, “all this antisocial behaviour.” His words were slow, deliberate, jabbing. Nathan wanted to laugh out loud- instead he resulted to stating the obvious. 

  
“Oh? Is he having a dig at us?” his voice dripped with sarcasm, the fag hanging from his lips again. Ironically, Phone girl’s phone began to ring once again- the tone piercing through the air. And the probation worker did not react well to this situation. 

  
“Right! That’s it.” He moved towards her, “All of you, just give me your phones, no one’s making anymore calls today!” she looked at him, unimpressed. “Now, c’mon.” he held his hand out expectantly, and she smirked at him.

  
“Are you allowed to take our phones?” she asked sarcastically, lifting up the device to snap a picture. He snatched it from her hand- rewarding a laugh from the girl standing before him. He walked round the group- taking the phones of everyone and storing them in his small bag that he wore at the side of his hip. Nathan and Klaus brought their phones when they first arrived in England, and always made sure to keep a small portion of money aside for the bill- they knew to be over-prepared for the worst. 

  
They all filed inside, Chav girl dropping a small ‘wanker’ as she walked passed him. 

* * *

When they were dressed in their jumpsuits and kitted out with buckets filled with soapy water and harsh scrubbing brushes they headed back outside to begin scraping off the red paint from the side of the wall. This was when Klaus stepped out to join them- whistling happily as he watched them struggle to take away the pigment from the wall.

Nathan looked over to glare at him, quickly telling him to shut up- which Klaus responded to be waving in the air lazily and flopping back against the table that he was occupying. 

  
At some point phone girl had joined it- slipping on sunglasses and staring up to the sky, presumably sun-bathing. Klaus had grinned sleepily at her when she sat down- awarding a slightly un-nerved look from her before she had relaxed again, seemingly deciding that he was harmless. 

  
“Yeah, you just relaxin’ it, take it easy.” Runner guy snapped, looking toward the pair on the bench. Phone girl slipped up her sunglasses, raising her eyebrows un-impressed with his words. 

  
“Someone’s just going to write something else on there tonight,” she reasoned “ they make us do these bullshit little jobs, wearing these bullshit orange jumpsuits- they can suck my dick.” She slipped down her glasses again, and Runner Guy turned back around with a small smirk. “Feel free to check out my tits yeah?” Klaus sat up at this, looking slightly groggy.

  
“You two have known each other for a day,” he murmured, “calm yourselves.” Nathan snorted. 

  
“You can talk.” Klaus looked up to stare at him slightly irritably, before just slumping back down- flashing his goodbye hand at his twin. They went back to scrubbing for about a minute, before Chav girl spoke up- looking imploringly at Nathan, setting him on edge slightly.

  
“Y’know after the storm- did any of yous lot feel dead weird?” Nathan forced himself to not jolt slightly- thoughts flying to his sudden sight of Ben, and Klaus had shifted onto his elbows slightly- catching Nathan’s eye. 

  
“Yeah-“ he distracted, “I had a strange tingling sensation in my anus.” She rolled her eyes, turning back to the wall with a huff of irritability. Suddenly, she snapped towards weird kid- pointing at him with her scrubbing brush almost accusingly. 

  
“What did you feel weird?” she asked- suddenly extremely invested in the uncomfortable looking guy before her. 

  
“What, you don’t want to hear about my anus?” Nathan whined- gesturing to the area grandly. 

  
“Do you really need to ask the question?” Klaus quipped, and Nathan smiled sarcastically. 

  
“Something happened.” Weird kid announced, and Klaus sat up, still leaning heavily against his palms. 

  
“What’s that? Squeak up.” He was looking at the pair with suspicious eyes- his line of sight shifting to Nathan, who had stopped too- fearing the worst. They had wondered if the storm had affected anyone else in a similar way to the immortal- but they hadn’t put too much thought into it, preferring to shut down the idea as soon as it began. Now they were having doubts. 

  
“Something happened to me.” Weird kid continued. 

  
“What- what was it?” Chav questioned, moving closer to the other- who began to look sheepish under her gaze. 

  
“It’s nothing.” And he turned back to his section of the wall. The twins shared a second of eye contact- before Klaus shrugged and fell back against the table, now uninterested and most likely frustrated with the unnecessary conversation. 

  
Nathan flicked his eyes toward Chav girl, taking her in and shamefully letting his thoughts wonder. Un-like his brother, he was very much of the heterosexual variety- and he hadn’t even been in proper contact with any eligible woman in about five months. Would I? he thought, I think I would. Oh my god I’m thinking about shagging a chav! He grinned to himself at the idea. 

She stared at him suddenly, expression turning furious- before walking over and roughly shoving him- causing him to stumble over his dirty-water bucket, effectively soaking his shoes. He hadn’t been expecting the assault- since he had done nothing to actually cause it, and so he really didn’t have time to prepare to dodge. 

  
“What was that for?” he exclaimed- raising his arms in questioning. Klaus was sniggering from behind. He heard a familiar ghostly voice speak up, 

  
“I think you may have upset her there Nate. You should try not being a prick.” He turned around to glare at both his ghost brother and his twin- who were finding the situation absolutely hilarious. Chav girl stormed off angrily- not acknowledging anyone, and Nathan stared after her in confusion. 

* * *

Kelly didn’t know what was happening to her- she hadn’t been normal since the day before, when the lightning had struck leaving everyone on the ground with the impact. First it was Alisha in the locker room, when she had called her a chav- although, Kelly didn’t think she actually said it out loud. Then it was her dog- taking about the poodle next door. And then- it was her fiancé, ex- fiancé. Then just a second ago, Nathan, thinking about shagging her but once again calling her a chav. She could hear people’s thoughts- she was sure of it. And it was utter hell. 

  
Someone caught her arm, effectively yanking her backwards and forcing her to look up to the offender. She was held in the grasp of Tony- their probation worker, who was looking more angered than usual. 

  
“Kelly- where d’you think you’re going?” 

  
“Ah shut up,” she snapped back- no longer wanting to deal with people, at least not until she had calmed down. 

  
“You cant just walk off whenever you feel like it,” he looked at her, scrutiny in his gaze and she began to struggle away from his hold.

  
“Get, your hands off me you prick!” she spat through clenched teeth. He didn’t let go. 

  
“You just keeping pushing don’t you,” his voice had a dangerous lilt to it now- a fire burning underneath him, “push push pushhhh. I'm so sick of serving scum like you!”

  
“I’ll report ya!” she was panicking slightly now, still shoving desperately at the hulk of the man.

  
“Oh yeah?” he said sounding like the idea was a foreign joke, “who’s gonna believe you, eh? You’re nothing! You little bitch!” he was right up in her face now, annunciating his words so much spit was flying from his mount and onto her face. He threw her head forward into his nose and ran, not looking behind her to see him seething- anger and pain written all over his face. 

* * *

They all sat in the lobby of the community centre- Runner boy cleaning up the buckets, Weird kid perched against the door, Phone girl lounged out on the sofa, Klaus lying out on the other sofa- and Nathan wheeling himself in one of the wheelchairs supplied for old citizens visiting. 

  
“When I was in sixth form, you came to my school.” Phone girl started, looking towards runner boy with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “You gave this big talk about athletics and all your medal and that.” She waved her hand in the air to demonstrate how far away the thought was. 

  
“Sooooo I'm guessing you’re not going to the Olympics?” Nathan drawled, and he looked over to him in anger.

  
“Funny.”

* * *

He had a metal rod. he was going to kill her. Kelly ran. 

* * *

“I heard he was dealing crack.” Phone girl offered a small smirk appearing on her lips. 

  
“No, no, no, paper said it was steroids-“ Klaus put in, gesturing towards the athlete in front of them wildly. Phone girl shifted to be more comfortable on her seat, gesturing to the necromancer with the water bottle-

  
“That stuff will shrivel your dick.” She said, and Klaus nodded. 

  
“It’s true- saw a guy once, huge muscles- tiny raisin cock-“

  
“It wasn’t steroids!” Runner guy snapped, cutting off Klaus mid-sentence, “I’m not a cheat. That stuff in the papers was bullshit.” He shifted to lean against the wall looking down, seeming slightly melancholy. 

  
“Yeah, so what was it then?” Phone girl asked un-impressed. He paused, seemingly pondering.

  
“Got caught with a little bit of coke,” the girl made a pained noise and Nathan looked to runner before him, grinning slightly and leaning forward in the wheelchair. 

  
“You let yourself down,” he said- trying to control the smirk that was overtaking his face, “You let the kids down, you let your parents down-“

  
“Shit the fuck up!” he came towards Nathan and he barely suppressed a flinch. He was grabbed by the shoulders and shaken slightly.

  
“All I ever did was train! You know nothing! I shouldn’t even fucking be here!” he jabbed a finger dangerously close to Nathan’s eye, and he looked up at him- seeing nothing but an angered kid. Klaus had sat up now, a look of mild interest and concern painting his face. It had been a while since they had been in a brawl. 

  
“You cant hit a guy in a wheelchair!” Nathan quipped, hoping he would be released, and he was- though he got shoved backwards and the chair went rolling. He smirked, slipping on a mask that covered his slight shakiness from being screamed at assaulted- a cruel reminder of childhood. 

  
“Do you wanna know what I got done for?” Phone girl drawled, moving on the conversation after the attack. 

  
“Not really.” Klaus answered honestly and Nathan snorted. Phone girl studiously ignored him. The group couldn’t escape it.

* * *

Running, harsh breathing. 

* * *

“So me and my mate Chloe are having cocktails in this bar yeah?” they were all sat on the floor- besides Nathan and phone girl- Nathan in his wheelchair and the girl still sat on the sofa. They were all facing her as if she were a librarian giving a story time. “And she’s hassling me cus’ she wants to go this party.” 

  
“Chloe is on one because she thinks Jack is doing Lucy- total slut-fuck. So we get in my car, I drive us to the party. We go into one of the rooms, yeah?”

\----------------------------

Gasping for breath, running, running, running.

\----------------------------

“Jack’s not doing Lucy, he’s doing Ellie. She is a proper slut. Chloe freaks, I’m driving us back to town, Chloe’s all like ‘Uhhhh I feel sick’ I’m like ‘ don’t puke in my car, do not puke in my car’. That’s when the police pull us over. I’m already banned from driving so I am like, fuckkk.”

  
“This cop, yeah? He hands me the breathalyser, and I’m like- do I suck, or blow?” she began to demonstrate oral sex with her water bottle, not a gag either. She was really going for it- causing all the boys to stare in slight shock. 

\---------------------------

Need to go, need to escape. 

\--------------------------

“Now I don’t know if this cop is gay or what, but he tells me I’m four times over the limit.” Klaus frowned a little at her wording. “It’s bullshit, I didn’t even wanna go to the party.” Just as she finished her, slightly erotic, tale- the doors of the community centre burst inward- revealing an out of breath and slightly panicking Chav girl. 

  
She slammed the doors back shut with all of her strength, immediately backing away- chest heaving with panic and strain, like she’d been running.

  
“He’s gonna kill us!” she yelled and Nathan chuckled slightly, turning round to stare at her. 

  
“Nice entrance!” he rewarded, clapping sarcastically. 

  
“The probation worker’s gone metal he’s just attacked me,” she exclaimed, mascara running messily under eyes, like she had been crying previously. The twins looked to each other in concern. “ Something really weird is happening, I’m hearing these voices in my head it’s like I can hear what people are thinking!” she was looking round the room desperately, knowing they probably wouldn’t believe her. 

  
“Well shit.” Klaus murmured. “Did it start after the storm?” he questioned, and Nathan looked to her in alarm. She nodded- and the twins looked to each other in a panic.   
“What, did something happen to you?” Klaus looked to his brother and Nathan shrugged.

  
“Me and Nathan can see ghosts.” He admitted and Phone girl snorted.

  
“This is bullshit, people don’t get powers from storms- and probation workers don’t just go crazy. If you can really read minds, tell me what I’m thinking.” She demanded. 

  
“You think it’s bullshit?” 

  
“You don’t need mind reading powers to work that one out."

  
“Something’s happened to me too.” Weird kid inputted, and everyone turned to look at him. This was getting more and more serious by the second. “Earlier one, when we were in the locker room- I was invisible.” He stated and everyone stared at him. The sentence wasn’t the real problem- it just seemed very short, and sudden. “I tuned invisible.” He seemed genuinely upset by the events, and runner guy didn’t help with his input of, 

  
“So she’s psychic, the wonder twins are mediums and you can turn invisible. That seems likely.” He sniggered. Phone girl chipped in.

  
“Yeah, did anyone actually see that?” he said, sarcasm tainting her voice.

  
“You were all there,” he insisted, “you didn’t notice me, I was standing right there- you couldn’t see me.”

Runner guy rolled his eyes and made his way to the door, going to open it- but being stopped in his tracks by Chav girl.

  
“Don’t go out there he will kill you!” she insisted- keeping a grip on his arm.

  
“Of course he will because he’s such a badass.” He snapped back, looking even more angered now than before. “This is bullshit!” 

  
“Does she look like she’s bullshitting you?” Klaus asked in his lazy voice, and runner guy paused to assess her. 

  
“Not really.” 

  
“Right she’s fucking terrified- her mascara’s all drippy and- no offense-“ he let out a little chuckle, “But she looks like utter, traumatised shit! Also- four out of six people say that they have powers and you choose that it’s complete bullshit? Majority vote man.” Runner guy had paused, looking back and fourth between the four- but didn’t have time to formulate a response, because the probation worker slammed into the door- a metal rod crashing into the pane and making an awful scraping sound. They all jumped back with a shout- staring wildly at the door in realisation that he really did want to kill them.   
  


* * *

“Maybe he’s on crystal meth, I mean that stuff makes you crazy,” they were all stood far back from the door, but not too far- so they could tell where the probation worker was, “My friend Chloe did it, she nearly shagged her brother- and he’s proper ugly.” Somehow, Nathan and Klaus had made their way to the front of the group- acting as a sort of shield in case the man actually got inside and tried to kill them. Nathan was already preparing himself to jump in the way of any blows that rained down, just like before. He was ignoring Klaus’ slightly worried expression that was being aimed toward him. 

  
“The graffiti,” Weird kid said, looking towards the rest of the group- realisation in his eyes, “’I’m going to kill you’ he wrote it.” Nathan looked to him.

  
“What did I say- there was a hidden message.” He paused looking at the door, and everyone’s terrified expressions- poised to run, “or not.” They all jumped as he let out another aggressive scream, the door rattling. 

  
“Did anything happen to you?” Chav girl questioned. Looking pointedly at Phone girl. She shook her head, earrings swinging with the motion.

  
“No-“ she was paused to address the rest of them, “we should call the police!” Klaus shook his head.

  
“He took your phones. We’re fucked.” They all collectively stiffened, before Chav girl looked to him questioningly. 

  
“What about your phone?” he shook his head dismissively again. 

“I t was in my pocket but I don’t have it. I think I dropped it outside.” He sounded slightly lost, before her huffed and dropped his arms dramatically. Before he could start complaining Runner guy cut across him.

  
“He’s stopped.” The words that should have been comforting came across as eerie- the thought that he had given up hitting in the window opening up a window for multiple other issues.

  
Nathan waved an arm, starting in the other direction- “out the back way c’mon.” everyone followed- half running half walking, wanting to escape as quickly as possible. They travelled through the community centre cutting through the hall until they reached the back doors, when Nathan slipped- managing to catch himself before he properly fell. Before freezing. 

  
“Is that blood!” Chav girl shouted, and Nathan stepped away suddenly- cursing under his breath- and holding himself against the wall. Klaus had begun approaching the locker- where the blood seemed to be originating, and everyone watched with close eyes- the room becoming deathly silent. He lifted the hatch and let the door fall open revealing the very much dead body of the kid from the day before. 

  
“Its Gary.” Weird kid whispered. They all stared in shock- horror freezing them to the spot. 

  
“I did wonder what had happened to him.” Nathan whispered. Phone girl had tears falling down her cheeks, chest heaving with silent cries- seemingly the most shaken out of all of them- and Runner guy reached out for her hand.

  
“C’mon, don’t look at him.” As soon as he touched her, his entire body arched upward- his eyes traveling across her entire body. He gasped and leant forward, eyes wild.   
“Ive gotta have sex with you right now!” he exclaimed and everyone looked over, slightly bewildered, “Ah you’re so beautiful!” he had both of her forearms in his grasp now and she was struggling against his hold.

  
“What’s up with him?” Klaus asked- staring in confusion. 

  
“Get off me you freak!” she screamed, shoving him away- and he seemed to wake up from a dream, gasping against the floor. 

  
“What?” she made to slap him, and he grabbed her- once again beginning to rant about how much he needed to sleep with her. She wrangled her arm away again- stepping backwards in a panic and bringing her hands to her hair. 

  
“What is happening to me?” she exclaimed- shaking in terror. Weird kid seemed to ponder for a second before speaking up. 

  
“It’s when you were touching her.” He murmured, and she looked around the room in bewilderment- taking a second until she reached out for Weird kid’s neck. As soon as her finger made contact he contorted upwards, gasping like he had been robbed of air and began trying to get closer to her. He leaned forward- mouth open.

  
“I’m so hard for you,” he began, gasping again, “I’m going to rip off your clothes and piss on your tits.” She broke away like shed been burned, and Klaus let out a low whistle, chuckling.

  
The back door broke in, glass shattering everywhere- accompanied by the angry scream of the probation worker. He held a metal rod that seemed to have been wrenched off of a fence- one of the spiked ones they put around shabby public parks to try to stop people from climbing in after dark. His hands were bleeding from holding it’s sharp edges- along with his face, due to his nose being definitely broken. He fell to the floor from the impact of shattering the door, growling as he went to stand up. Just as he began to run toward Nathan- Klaus outstretched a hand in panic and a paint canister went flying through the air- crushing into the probation worker’s head with a sickening crunch. He fell to the floor with a thud. 

  
“Well that’s new.” Klaus said, with a strained voice- his hand still stretched out, “telekinesis. Nice.” He sounded as if he wanted to throw up. Nathan wouldn’t blame him.   
“is he dead?” Phone girl asked, a shake in her voice. Nathan looked up at her, then gestured toward the man’s head. 

  
“Well, I’m not doctor- but see the way the back of his heads caved in like that?” he they looked for a second- their faces at little green at the implications of their situation.

Suddenly, the man they thought was dead snapped upwards- gripping into Chav girl’s ankle with a scream of rage. Almost instantly she brought her foot down on his head, stamping over and over- each time her heel connected with his skull she let out another word.

  
“I”

  
“Am”

  
“Not”

  
“A”

  
“Chav!”

  
They all stared at the lifeless body before them, and then back to Kelly- who was breathing heavily, eyes wide in realisation of what she had just done. She turned away, breathing like she wanted to throw up. Nathan had his hands clutched in his hair- fingers knotted into the curls and breathing heavily.

  
“That should do it.” He murmured, and Klaus came to stand next to him. 

  
“You killed our probation worker.” Alisha said- staring at Kelly, lips slightly white with shock. Kelly stared back- seemingly even more shocked and terrified than all of them put together. 

  
“This is very, very bad.” Klaus whispered- and they all silently agreed with him.   
“We should call the police!” Curtis announced, gaining everyone’s attention, “It was self-defence!” Alisha sniffed. 

  
“Yeah- yeah, yeah- he’s right. Look, we show them the dead boy in the locker- they do some CSI shit and figure it all out.” she was nodding, almost crazed along with every word- but th idea was shut down as Klaus shook his head. 

  
“They’ll never believe us. Five criminals, one druggie all standing in a room- covered in blood with two dead bodies. Looks pretty suspicious doesn’t it?” they all seemed to stand still for a minute- processing the truth. He paused for a second before adding, almost hopefully, “If there's no body- there's no crime.” Nathan’s head snapped up, and he nodded feverishly. Thank god for their fucked up child-soldier knowledge. 

  
“Yeah, yeah- if we give them a little,” he whistled with a motion gesturing cleaning, “right? We put them in those wheelchairs, we wheel them up there- and if anyone sees us, we’re just bunch of young offenders taking a couple of specials, for a walk in the sunshine.” He finished, nodding slightly, and looking to the group. They all paused for a minute- not wanting to speak, but he knew they had agreed on his idea. 

* * *

The bodies fell limply into the ditch they had dug- like puppets whose strings had been cut, Nathan hadn’t enjoyed doing this as a kid- and enjoyed it even less as an adult. He had hoped he would never have to perform a task like this again in his lifetime, which was eternal, but here he was holding a shovel and pouring dirt on top of some random kid and his probation worker. His hand had a slight shake to them, and Klaus seemed put off too- looking over to him every few seconds. This wasn’t what they had wanted England to be- they had thought they’d escaped this sort of thing, left it behind to rot in America, in the cursed walls of the academy- but they were wrong it seemed. They could never have what they wanted, that was the curse of being powerful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You got through it yayy!!! Kay- hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Also I need to rant- its super important to me, but I cant use my tiktok to do this because she follows me so...  
> So basically, I have a crush on my best friend- and I'm pretty sure they like me back but I cant ask because it could ruin our friendship y'know? But everyone thinks we're dating because of the way we act around each other- and we acknowledge that all the time- because we spend all of our time together. We're writing a book together- we have a marriage pact, we go on picnics in the summer, spot a lesbian couple and talk about how we hope we also look like a couple. And basically the only difference between now, and being in a relationship is that we'd kiss. And the other day we started to like openly question if we were platonic or not, because previously we have been like- oh platonic soulmates- but yeah. And then today she sent me this message like, oh I saw something one Tiktok that was like- how to test if your romantic or not, just listen to line without a hook and see how much it relates. and so we both did- and it relates so well, and both of us think so- and then we had a really meaningful conversation and I'm just so happy right now, but we're still not together and ahhhhhhhhhh.   
> Yeah rant over, sorry about that lmao.


	5. Misfits: episode two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi- I'm back. this is my second time uploading this because no one saw it and its been like three days so I was getting salty lmao. Im still here guys! Come back! I have angst!   
> yeah um- heres another chapter, take it-  
> \- Signal

They lay in bed together that night, their two stolen mattresses pressed up against each other in order to allow the twins the comfort of closeness. It had been a difficult day for everyone- with the discovery of powers, the near death experience, the murder, the burying. It had ripped open a vein of bad memories for Klaus and Nathan- for they were usually the members of the Academy to complete the clean-up jobs after missions, depositing the bodies in some ditch- or similarly to today, burying them under layers of soil.

Nathan shuddered at the thought. 

  
Klaus’ eyes flicked up to him, a slightly hazy and unfocused green-brown as they usually were. Their eyes were identical in colour, but Nathan’s always seemed sharper, more grounded it reality than his brothers. He cleared his throat slightly, before opening his mouth to mumble,

  
“So, telekinesis huh?” Klaus let out a small bitter laugh- before shrugging. 

  
“At least it’s practical. Don’t really know why our powers are so different though.” Ben then spoke up for the first time, shifting his dead body to the floor near their heads. 

  
_“Maybe immortality and telekinesis are your individual powers- like the ones that differ from each other, and mediumship is the thing you share. It just took the lightning to wake the rest of the power up. So you were basically working at 50% your entire lives.”_ The twins had shifted a little to pay attention to him, but then their eyes met once again and Klaus shrugged grandly.

  
“I agree with Benny boy.” Nathan nodded- before yawning massively, then waving over his brother while shuffling backwards.

  
“Get in idiot.” He motioned again to Ben, who’s face was now painted in shock- a slight smile playing on his face, the ghost climbed into the bed- hovering just above the mattress, the place where his arms disappeared into that of the twins was frozen cold to the still living boys- but it was fine, they would have preferred this to leaving Ben isolated. They had to stick together now.

* * *

“Why don’t I have superpowers like the rest of you?” they were walking along the board walk that covered a small passageway-leading into a garage; there were three giant white vents taking up large amounts of the space, and a very inconveniently placed bench. The entire place was dreary- as expected of the shabbier sides of London, even the water was grey- the only real colour coming from the obnoxious orange of their jumpsuits. 

  
Nathan chuckled a little, swinging his grabber towards Curtis- who was complaining generously about his lack of ability, 

  
“Seriously man, you don’t want them.” Klaus hadn’t joined them, decidedly announcing that cleaning up litter from the dirty floor would chip his brand new nail polish- utter bullshit Nathan knew. They didn’t have enough money for a house let alone any nail polish. Curtis rolled his eyes, shifting his stick to rest over his shoulders.

  
“It’s bullshit. I was in that damn storm too.” They all ignored him.

* * *

They picked up the litter as a group- black bags barely filling up due to their utter lack of interest in the task, though they were working in silence, no conversation being shared amongst them. It was likely that they were all caught up in their heads- which would have been highly distracting for Kelly- thinking about superpowers and storms and murder. The normal things. Nathan’s head was swirling with memories recently, the idea of having to live with superpowers and murder on his mind once again forcing his nerves to act as live wires- on edge constantly. He knew that Klaus probably felt the same, was probably out getting high right that second. He had told him he just wanted to sleep but it was an obvious lie- he needed time away from his twin, who had inadvertently caused everything to go wrong for the both of them. Nathan tried to shove the thought away- though it returned constantly, the main reason his sleep had been so disturbed the previous night. 

  
He also thought to his father, and just how excited Reginald would be if he had realised a little electricity was the only thing needed to awaken their dormant, shared powers. He shuddered- knowing the way the ghosts affected his twin, the horrors re-told of the mausoleum. There was no mistaking the guilty relief that flooded his chest at the thought that Klaus hadn’t inherited his own power. He used to swap places with his brother when he couldn’t deal with the ghouls- putting on a convincing act of acting terrified that was only half fake; after being buried alive he had a painful fear of graves, which he would just have to deal with if he wanted to assist Klaus in not being traumatised further. He was glad the favour wasn’t able to be returned. 

  
When he looked up, Kelly was looking at him slightly sideways- and he had to clamp down a beat of terror that rose in his chest. She would never really know what he was talking about- it was too difficult to guess really, and she hadn’t said anything about the word immortality. He guessed she couldn’t hear long winding thought processes, only snappy sentences, or extremely focused thoughts, so much it takes over the person’s whole brain. He had been thinking distractedly, so it was likely she only caught snippets. Even so, he vowed to begin thinking in German from then on. 

  
“What is that?” Curtis called out, and everyone’s heads snapped up- to see a man, who was very much naked, curled up on the floor near the wall. They all slowly made their way over to him- Alisha sniggering slightly at the sight. He was very naked indeed. 

“Is he breathing?” Kelly asked, and Alisha moved forward- reaching out with her grabber to poke at the man, who didn’t move a bit, still lying crumpled on the floor. She looked back to them with a smirk, and Nathan struggled to hold in a laugh.

  
“Hey nude guy?” she called you, staring now at the man, she smirked again, “You’re naked.” She stated it obviously, and finally the man started to move- turning onto his back and staring up at them, slightly bewildered. This, however, revealed his undersection- causing all of them to turn away with disgusted noises, mixed in with noises of surprise. Nathan leant over Simon’s phone as he snapped a photo, both of them grinning brilliantly. 

  
He looked back to the man, who was still lying on the floor- before his stomach dropped and he moved closer slightly- pointing at him with an angry frown.

  
“You!” he exclaimed, and the man suddenly looked up at him, panic written over his features, before he got up and began running, slipping over as he went. Nathan chased after him slightly, but found himself stopping as he watched him run away- everyone still laughing behind him.

  
“You wanna tell us who that was?” Curtis asked, his voice still full of laughter- and Nathan whipped his head around. 

  
“He’s with a friend I work with!” everyone sniggered slightly, and Alisha began pointing with her stick. 

  
“He has got a massive cock!” she exclaimed, and Curtis next to her added to the conversation.

  
“Good luck competing with that.”

“No, Jesus!” Nathan yelled, throwing his hands into the air, “she’s old enough to be my mum!” he worked at a bar- or used to, before he got arrested, which was manned by an older woman named Louise- around her late forties. She was nice to him when he first started, giving him extra ours and offering him and Klaus a place to stay often- reminding him of his own mom, and how caring she was. Eventually- she began to date people, some of which were not good for the business in any way- and others who liked to make hits on Klaus. Of course Nathan wouldn’t stand for it, and she had begun to think of him as a liar.

  
He was well known for lying to people, not because he wanted to stir up trouble or just be necessarily bad- he just didn’t like people to know everything about him. It could most likely be blamed on his childhood, where he was forced to hide his emotions or bare the consequences- tied in with the fact that if he and Klaus didn’t lie, they’d probably be shipped back to America for Reggie to have a field day with their new powers. He shuddered at the thought. 

  
Louise had deemed his ASBO as the last straw, firing him promptly. Klaus worked too, though he refused to tell Nathan where or what he actually did to make money- something he absolutely despised, but couldn’t really chastise him for as it didn’t break the no-lying pact. They had lost the main support, and then the house- and now this.   
Her latest boyfriend was Jeremy, the one who had suggested he be let go after they had found out about the bowling alley incident. It was an understatement to say that Nathan didn’t like the guy. 

  
“Whys he naked?” Kelly asked, slightly irritably. Alisha looked at her, shrugging. 

  
“He’s obviously some kind of pervert- or he’s gay” Nathan frowned- stepping forward slightly, prepared to yell at the girl for the stigma- though Curtis beat him to it. 

  
“That follows- a little light homophobia, go for it.” He raised his eyebrows at her, looking down incredulously. 

  
“He could be a rapist,” Kelly offered sarcastically, “there’s loads of them round here.” She stared at Nathan coldly, head coked slightly to her left. 

  
“Maybe he’s a werewolf.” Everyone turned to look at Simon in disgust- Nathan raised his pole.

  
“Twat” he wiggled it around a little, not caring that Simon’s face had fallen with the short statement. That was the main difference between him and Klaus- he really didn’t care what came out of his mouth, even if it was something that would ruin a person’s life. His filter was well and truly broken. Though- if there was one thing he and Klaus had in common, it would be the fact they both hid their feelings, even to each other. The art of suppression was an easy one to master when you were afraid of seeming weak- they knew. 

  
“It’s what happens in films-“ Simon continued arguing, “you turn into a werewolf, you kill someone and you wake up somewhere naked.” Everyone was staring at him in slight disbelief- and Nathan turned away, looking back in the direction of Jeremy. “Like a zoo.” Simon added to the end of his sentence, and Nathan turned back around- quick to snap back.

  
“He’s not a werewolf, alright?,” he lifted his hands in the air, gesturing wildly, “this guys such a pussy he needs Louise to open jars for him- I’m sure if he was a werewolf he could open a jar of peanut butter for himself.” He stared at Simon as if daring him to argue back- though Kelly was the one to reply to his comment. 

  
“What happens if the storm messed him up?” she said, leaning relaxedly on he grabber. He shook his head swiftly- refusing to believe that the range of superhuman people could grow so swiftly. 

  
“That’s bollocks,” he began, “what are the chances?” no one replied. 

* * *

  
She took in a large breath, “Help out, talk to them, make sure everyone’s having a good time.” Sally looked at them expectantly, though all five of them simply returned blank stares. She gestured with her hands irritably, still looking at the group intently and barking out a ‘move.” 

  
All of them started to walk past her into the main hall, where there was a gaggle of elderly people slow dancing and sitting at tables. Nathan looked around, eyes slightly wide at the array of shrivelled human beings- many of them seeming to thoroughly enjoy the plain music radiating from the stereo in the corner of the room. he had never seen so many gathered together at once- and when he really looked round the room, he could spot a few of the dead hovering about at their partners shoulders, people wafting through them at random times during the dance. He could tell why Klaus didn’t like them, they were eerie, with sad stretched faces. A shudder ran through him. 

  
“What you staring at?” Kelly asked, coming up beside him, and he looked to her- straightening in her presence. 

  
“I hate old people- they have too many dead relatives.” He said simply before Kelly’s focus re-directed to a man in wheelchair before them. He seemed to be sleeping- head lolling to the side heavily, and Kelly seemed to shift a bit. 

  
“Is he dead?” she questioned – and Nathan took more of an in-depth look at the man. He could tell he was alive by the soft rise and fall of his chest- but Kelly certainly couldn’t. “I think he’s dead!” she exclaimed. Nathan smirked a little- leaning down to get closer to the man’s face before taking a breath. 

  
“She’s stealing your pension!” he yelled, and the man jumped awake with a startled breath- looking around wildly. He turned his head towards Kelly and flashed her an exaggerated smile, hands still tucked into his pockets- “He’s fine.” She flopped down heavily into the seat at the table as he began to walk away, hands tucked into the pockets of his jacket- the one he wore at every chance he got. It had been a seventeenth birthday present from Klaus and now, nearly four years later he was still wearing the garment with pride, the fabric being surprisingly un-torn for something so used. It was the only piece of clothing from their family home that he hadn’t burned to ash at this point.   
As he was walking, he spotted his twin out od the corner of his eyes- ducked into one of the doorways of the main hall, frowning furiously at a very irritable looking Ben- in his hand there was a small pack of pills. Ben had always seemed intent to force Klaus to cease his drug habits, claiming them to be ridiculous and un-necessary- though in Nathan’s opinion he had been dead for a good too many years. He knew why Klaus did what he did- struggled like he did; he felt the same way about their past, their powers. It was the same as him avoiding elevators because he hated how they felt cage-like and the walls seemed to collapse inward; Klaus avoided the ghosts by swallowing a mass of pills. Sure Nathan stopped him from going too far- stopped him from damaging himself, but he didn’t outright tell him to give up on the thing that fuelled him. He was stubborn, but very aware that it was a losing battle. Apparently Ben still hadn’t got the memo. 

  
He was about to lean into the wall and relax before the sharp cutting voice of their probation worker rang out with a short, “Nathan.” And she stared at him hard, a piercing gaze settled upon him. He smiled sarcastically though a small part of him was trying desperately to contain a flinch at the infliction of her tone. He stood straighter and began randomly wandering round, looking for something to do. He spotted an old woman in a wheelchair- her expression downtrodden though her eyes didn’t seem to be wholly there. He assumed it was because of the fact she couldn’t dance along with the others and his heart id a useless flip in his chest. 

  
He strode over to her chair and leaned over the back with a giddish smile, which she returned though not as enthusiastic – and he announced while still bent over close to her ear-

  
“Wanna go for a ride?” and she nodded, obviously happy to be receiving some sort of attention instead of sitting in the corner. He began wheeling her round the place, jogging slightly- and she seemed to be holding on for dear life. 

  
“C’mon Joan, lets get the wind flowing through your hair-“ he paused looking at her rapidly thinned skull, “er- scalp.” He corrected. And suddenly a blonde woman stepped from the doorway- gaining his immediate attention; he didn’t even realise he had let go of Joan’s wheelchair in favour and slinking up to the new girl. She headed towards the food table, seemingly preparing a plate- and he walked over swiftly, cutting her off by lifting up a plate of sausage rolls. Their faces came close with the way he had forced himself into her view and she stopped short, blinking at him a little. 

  
“Hi.” He said with a pleasant smile, one hand still in his pocket- and she smiled back- taking the sausage rolls out of his hand and responding with a,

  
“Thanks.” He stepped forward a little. 

  
“So are you like a member of staff or something?” he questioned- both hands now placed in his pockets. She smiled slightly awkwardly and nodded as she replied to his statement.

  
“I’m a volunteer.” She said and he nodded enthusiastically- thinking frantically of a lie to pull out of his ass to get this girl to like him. Or at least be affected by his charm.   
“Volunteer.” He smiled, though it came out as more of a grimace, “I love to volunteer.” She seemed to look him up and down, a slight smirk playing at her lips. 

  
“Is that why they gave you community service?” she said with one eyebrow quipped and he stood back a little, stretching out his back. 

  
“Could be, could be…” he let himself trail off a little, “I’d probably just be here anyway- helping out.” he lied, and forced himself to continue. “Old people.” He said and then mentally slapped himself, “their so, their so…… they’re old.” He let himself smile into the distance, not really caring what came out of his mouth anymore because of how badly he’d messed up the interaction so far. She looked away smiling a little and he found a small burst of pride bubble up from the fact that he almost made her laugh. Mission accomplished it seemed. 

  
“So what did you do?” she questioned, still grinning. 

  
“I sexually assaulted a ninety year old woman.” He said with a smile and she seemed to step back a little.

  
“That’s funny.” She said with a little grimace,

  
“She didn’t seem to think so at the time.” He continued with his little tale, “God rest her soul.” He looked off into the distance- feigning sadness in the most dramatic ay humanly possible. Now the girl was genuinely laughing- although she sounded a little terrified too. 

  
“the truth is, “ he began, “I got arrested for eating some pick n’ mix.” He said with an over-exaggerated face of annoyance. 

  
“Right,” she said- still not believing him, “of course you were….. you’re such a liar pass me those pork pies.” He pointed to another food tray lined with pies and his lifted it to her; when he spun around there was an old woman in his face, grinning with crooked yellow teeth. He let out a small shriek of terror before collecting himself again and passing the pork pies. 

  
“I think she wants to dance with you,” the girl said before walking away, leaving him alone with an old woman. _Mission failed._ He mentally chastised himself. 

* * *

Klaus was spread out on the bench in the locker room examining his nails for any imperfections or chips. He hand t been able to paint them in a while because of money shortages and he was really suffering for it- and so he decided to have the most fabulously perfect nail beds ever to make up for it. He was lucky that he still had his makeup- even if he hadn’t replaced it in a while, along with his straighteners, otherwise he’d end up looking like Nathan. 

  
The sounds of lockers opening rung out, with everyone standing in their designated spaces, Nathan being closest to where he was lying. His twin seemed tireder recently, both of them had been but Nathan most of all. All of this power stuff and murder had thrown a major curveball for them, ripping up memories that would always be too fresh, cause too much hurt. Nathan was one of those people that was incredible at masking emotions, hiding it under layers and layers of sarcasm and rudeness- playing out an un-caring manner, acting like nothing ever bothered him. Klaus and Ben were some of the only people to ever see him as he really was, since he tried not to show that side around his siblings and definitely not around their father. Klaus mentally reminded himself to talk to him later. 

  
Curtis swung open his locker and froze, reaching into the inside door and ripping away a piece of paper with an aggressive speed before staring for around ten seconds- hovering in shock. He slowly spun and shut the door with a resounding click, then calling out-

  
“Someone knows.” Everyone turned to look at him, pausing at the resounding eeriness of the statement; it would be wonderful for them to not know exactly what he was talking about but from one quick check of everyone’s facial expressions it was obvious that a sense of panic had been ignited beneath the whole group. “They know we killed our probation worker.” He topped it off. Klaus almost wanted to strangle the guy for announcing the statement so loudly, although it was obvious that no one else was occupying the room. 

  
“Is this a wind up?” Kelly asked, standing slightly disbelievingly, and crossing over her arms. “Is this you?” she gestured to Nathan. 

  
“If I was trying to wind you up I think I’d be a little more creative-“ he argued back, gesturing loosely to the locker, “I know what film you saw last summer.”

  
“This isn’t funny.” She pressed, now turning her gaze to Klaus- eyes piercing into his own, a small frown on her forehead. He raised his hands in the air- donning an offended look. 

  
“If I wanted to freak you out I would have dug up the bodies and shoved them in your locker.” He announced dejectedly- and Nathan gestured to him in a way that seemed to scream ‘see?’. 

  
“If it wasn’t them who was it?” Simon asked, leaning against the lockers on the other side of the room- the only one donning an orange jumpsuit instead of his regular clothes, changing faster than the rest of the group. 

  
“Well we’ve all done stuff,” Klaus said heavily, thinking to multiple reasons they had all been arrested, mind flicking to his and Nathan’s childhood occupations. Kelly gave him a slight look and suddenly his thoughts jerked to another line altogether. Rapidly he forced his thoughts into German, to which Kelly frowned even deeper and shook her head as if the words were cobwebs she could shake away. He didn’t blame her, German could be difficult on the ears. “They could be talking about anything.” He continued, hoping to divert Kelly’s attention away from his own head. 

  
“Well it was in your locker.” Alisha piped up, forcing Curtis to speak again. 

  
“This was meant for all of us.” He snapped, looking around disbelievingly at the other five, “They’re talking about the probation worker-“

  
“Ok, ok,” Nathan cut across him, “let’s just say you’re right- if they actually knew anything they wouldn’t be dicking around sticking notes on lockers they would’ve gone to the police and we’d all by banged up in prison getting gang raped in the showers,” he made a humping gesture to emphasise his point, “but this, this means that they have no evidence- no proof. Nothing.” Klaus mentally cursed and praised the shitty criminal psychology lessons Reginald had forced them to take as kids- they were long and gruelling and honestly just led all seven of those required to attend fantastic at manipulation, but they were proving useful in some ways. 

  
“And anyway,” Nathan added to the end of his sentence, “I’m guessing it’s about some other totally unrelated shit that you’ve done.” He pointed to Curtis forcefully, “So if we’re all done freaking out here I have somewhere to be.” He gave an obviously fake smile and clapped Curtis on the shoulder, promptly exiting the room. Klaus frowned with the small outburst- Nathan was right in everything he said and he really managed to pull off the act of convincing no one to freak out but he wasn’t usually outright aggressive when putting across his point, and he didn’t slip in one joke the entire time. It was unusual. Klaus watched him leave with worried eyes. 

* * *

“What was with that outburst earlier?” they were both sitting on the railing where their beds were laid out, a pizza box open between them and two cans of Fanta- both open but at various degrees of full. Nathan had always drunk more and faster than Klaus. Ben was perched off to the side with a book in his hands, leaning back against the wall relaxedly. Nathan looked to Klaus, who’s expression was earnest. 

  
“What outburst?” he asked, lifting up his can to his lips. It was very unfortunate that the vending machines didn’t dispense beer. 

  
“In the locker room. I could feel you were more on edge about it than normal.” Nathan let out a sigh and placed down the can, opting instead to lean forward against the iron railing, head lolling forward slightly. 

  
“I just- I know that note means something but if they started freaking out then the person that out it there would notice. It’s obvious and I know the only way is to tell them that in a way that doesn’t make them try to act like normal- y’know? I guess the whole thing scared me a little. If the police found out about….. well everything we’d get sent back and I don’t think I can do that- not when I’ve had a taste of freedom.” Klaus gave him a saddened yet knowing look. 

  
“Yeah I get it. It was just kind of out of character for you is all.” He gave a small laugh and Nathan smiled back. Ben’s head snapped up suddenly and both twins turned to stare at him worriedly. He looked towards the entrance of the community centre before stating, 

  
“Someone’s at the door.” Both Nathan and Klaus looked at each other before standing beginning to walk down the stairs, both of the poised ready for a fight to break out. Ben walked silently behind them, looking apprehensive. That was the thing about ghosts- they knew some of what was going on, but never who, so it could really be anyone trying to break into the community centre at midnight on a Thursday. 

  
The lights flickered to life and all three of them still looking around a second before speeding up the direction of the slight footsteps. They were nearing the back entrance- near the small kitchenette where all of the alcohol was stored, when a young woman stepped in front of them. Both Nathan and Klaus let out a small scream of terror and Ben audibly slapped his hand across his forehead in what seemed to be disappointment. Nathan blinked at her, recognising her from the weird part earlier in the day. 

  
“What are you doing here?” he asked dejectedly and she replied,

  
“I left my bag- wait…..” she trailed off what seemed to be confusion at the sight of Klaus beside him, “What?” she asked simply.

  
“I don’t believe we have been acquainted-“ Klaus began holding out one hand in a grand gesture, “Klaus Young, handsome older twin to my brother here Nathan.” She didn’t take his hand and Klaus frowned a small bit. She crossed her arms over her chest, looking now at Nathan. 

  
“Why are you two here?” she asked. 

  
“We’re volunteering,” Nathan claimed, “you know- giving and giving some more.” He said it in a fantastical way that forced Klaus to hold in a snort of laughter. 

  
“Is this a burglary?” she questioned and Nathan straightened, snapping back a-

  
“No. I could say the same to you.” She looked from side to side, an amused half-smile appearing on her face.

  
“Except I've got keys to the building and permission to be here.” She retorted, holding up the keys for emphasis. 

  
“Nice going Nate.” Ben half-whispered from behind them and Klaus let his lips perk up into a grin. Nathan frowned irritably. 

  
“Well-“ Klaus announced, “You really dug yourself into a whole there brother dearest.” He clapped both of them on the shoulders. “I’ll be stepping out now, see you later lovebirds.” And he left them both standing there helplessly. 

  
“You want a drink?” Nathan asked tiredly. 

* * *

The next morning found Nathan standing in the hall of the community centre with the rest of the group plus Klaus with Ruth’s phone clutched in his hand and an angry rant being said about naked men that are dating ex-bosses/mother figures. He was holding up the phone to Kelly, who was staring at it, slightly confused. 

  
“It’s him, he was out there again last night- this is evidence.” He said, looking directly at Kelly with a wild sort of intensity. 

  
“Who was out there last night Nate?” Klaus called, confused from the table to he was lying on top of, “I thought you had a date with that lady last night.” Nathan had been drinking with Ruth the night before- and a baggy of something was also opened, but just as something was about to happen Jeremy had run behind then, stark naked once again. Nathan had managed to snap a photo but by the time he had returned, Ruth had been gone- much to his disappointment.

  
“Yeah, I forgot to tell you; yesterday we saw fucking Jeremy bollock naked- I saw him again last night, jumped on top of me, licked my damned face!” he pointed to his face to elaborate on his point. Klaus sat up a little. 

  
“As in Jeremy who’s dating Louise?” Nathan nodded and Klaus snorted, “He’s a total dildo- wonder what he was doing out there naked.” He quipped. 

  
“He’s a rapist wolf-boy ill tell you. Why else would he jump on me like that?” Klaus rolled his eyes and lay back down. Nathan had already gone to shove the phone in Simon’s face- displaying the frankly disturbing low angle to the brunette. 

  
“He’s living with Louise we gotta do something!” he exclaimed, gesturing to the entire group. Klaus sat up- letting his legs dangle from the table and staring tiredly at his brother. 

  
“Like what?” Kelly asked and a small part of Nathan bloomed at the fact she didn’t flat out refuse to do something- didn’t retort with something along the lines of ‘we?’ as he had expected. Over these couple of days he’d found himself enjoying the company of Kelly more than the others in the group- who he could tell found him annoying, constantly calling him a prick and the like. He looked to her, 

  
“Can you get me a gun?” he asked and he heard Klaus huff out a laugh from his table. 

  
“I aint getting you a gun.” He mentally raised his eyebrows at her phrasing- which heavily suggested she had the ability to obtain a weapon, even in England- the land that was trying to not be violent but failing miserably. 

  
“C’mon, you know someone right? Just a little one!” he doubted any of them really knew that he could indeed fire a gun with precise accuracy- he had to learn to fight somehow, its not like he had any extra help in combat like the others. 

  
“Theres no way I’m getting a dickhead like you a gun.” He said, leaning forward and pointing heavily. Klaus let out another laugh- calling out from where he was perched. 

  
“And on the top ten list of things Reggie has never said-“

  
“You can get a gun off the internet.” Simon said helpfully, holding a can in his hand. Nathan ignored his statement. 

  
“Ok what if we just go round there tonight we’ll talk to him, we’ll be mature and polite- yeah?” Klaus snorted again, Nathan gave him a hard stare, “and then we’ll just tell him to fuck off!” 

  
“What if he says no?” Kelly questioned and Nathan struggled for a second before retorting, 

  
“I don’t know we’ll improvise.” There was a pause. “So who’s with me?” no one spoke, all of them just staring blankly at him while he held his arms open like he was welcoming them to an event. He looked at them, mouth hanging slightly open in offense. “It’s like that is it? So much for being united by a horrific, lifechanging- shared- experience. Last week?” when no one replied he burst out, “We killed our probation worker?” every one hushed him angrily- telling him to keep his damned voice down about the subject. He pretended not to be embarrassed by the stupid outburst. No one spoke- and Nathan looked to Klaus in anger. 

  
“I’m sorry Nate I'm busy tonight!” Nathan frowned angrily- turning away.

  
“Busy my ass you’re never busy.” He left the room without another word. 

* * *

A few hours later when the community service time was over, Nathan found himself standing in front of Louise’s house, regarding the wall and determining whether climbing inside would be to noisy. Honestly it wasn’t much of a decision- based on the fact he and Klaus used to climb onto the roof of the Academy- just above their rooms, which was near the greenhouse but just a little further back- a view out on the courtyard instead of out to the front. Both of them could climb soundlessly because of this fact, something the rest of their siblings believed they had picked up from training and had actually come in handy on quite a few missions when they need someone to scale a wall to check if there were any attackers on the other side Nathan had always been a solid choice. He knew Luther and Allison used to sneak up there too- built a tent in the greenhouse due to the fact that their father never used it. He guessed it used to be Pogo’s, before the gorilla surrendered it to the pair without telling Reginald. The day they got caught was the day he and Klaus stopped climbing up- wary he’d catch them too. 

  
He got to work scaling the wall, soon flipping himself through the window and landing on light feet- curling his toes slightly to soften the noise of his jump cross the sink. He grinned at the soundlessness- and how idiotic they were for leaving their windows ajar. British windows were tricky things due to the fact they could only be opened from the inside, so it was a gamble of how stupid the person was depending on whether you could get in. 

  
Not a second later- Jeremy walked into the room, shirt soaked in sweat and breathing heavily like he had been running. He paused in shock for a moment eyes blowing wide.   
“Nathan?” he asked disbelievingly.

  
“That’s right.” He replied, “Your numbers up you psycho nudist freak!” he reached into his jacket pocket to retrieve Ruth’s phone, which held the photo of Jeremy from the night before. “I got you now baby-“ he turned the phone toward the man, “See anything you recognise?” Jeremy cocked his head to the side, seemingly questioning the image he was looking at. 

  
“What am I looking at?” he mirrored Nathan’s thoughts. He sighed, beginning to re-explain the image for what felt like the tenth time that day. 

  
“Cock, anus, ball-sack.” He gestured to the phone and then Jeremy smiled a little, seemingly understanding the image. 

  
“Is it?” he asked giddily. 

  
“Its from a low angle!” Nathan snapped, annoyed at the man’s optimism. “It you! Last night.” Jeremy’s face fell slightly. “George Michael gets away with this shit but he was in Wham, who are you?” he seemed to ponder for a second ore he shook his head.

  
“I don’t remember what happened.” He said it almost sheepishly. 

  
“Oh,” he drawled, “how very convenient. This happened. I show this to Louise- you’re history!” he gave him a fake sympathetic smile, “So don’t make this any harder on her and just go.”

  
“No, you go!” Jeremy snapped back, “She doesn’t even want you here she fired you!” something in his just snapped, a small release of anger that brought back his violent upbringing and he swung, landing a punch on the man’s nose- a small crack coming from the area. He had held back from fully shattering the section of his face but it would definitely hurt. A small part of him panicked- not having meant to hit him.

  
“Nathan!” his stomach dropped at Louise’s surprised and angry tone- she had run into the room and managed to half-catch the assaulted man before he hit the floor and had now sat him down on a chair. “What are you doing?” she yelled. 

  
“He was out there bollock naked, two nights in a row- tell her you sick bastard tell her!” he yelled back, equally as loud- before she cut across him.

  
“He already did! She exclaimed. He stopped short. 

  
“He told you?” he asked weakly, “so….. what the fuck?”

  
“It started after that storm,” Jeremy began to explain, and Nathan’s heart seemed to stop for a second with the sentence. He didn’t think he had the strength to deal with more weird superpowers. “It did something to me. sometimes it’s like I'm a dog.” Nathan stared blankly for a moment, before muttering,

  
“That’s weird, that’s really weird.” It was almost like Simon’s werewolf theory but, a lot more boring and just downright strange. Louise turned a rage-filled gaze upon him. 

  
“You’ve broken his nose!” he rolled his eyes elaborately, tucking his hands into his pockets. 

  
“Its not like you can enter him in Crufts.” 

  
And then she hit him. A slap connecting to his cheek suddenly- no real fight beforehand, just an angry adult hitting, hitting, hitting. He felt himself stumble back out of reflex, his back hitting the cupboard- only now his brain registered it as a wall; he was back in the entry way of the house- his father looming over him, his cane leant heavily on the floor and his hand stuck out from where he had struck Nathan. There was a heavy gold-plated ring sat on his finger, one that always bit angrily into his cheek when he was slapped. His cheek throbbed and he could feel the panic curling his chest- the promise of the cupboard- or maybe he would punish Klaus on his behalf. He felt his throat constricting and-

  
“Nathan, Nathan!” he was back in Louise’s kitchen, a hand clutched on his cheek and his breath erratic. “I’m so sorry-“ he didn’t let her finish, standing up and running from the place swiftly, praying neither of them realised he was crying. 

* * *

He hesitated before knocking on Ruth’s door- being slightly put off by the shake that refused to stop pestering his hands and the horrible watery feeling he was having inside. Eventually he built up the courage for a short tap. And almost instantly she had opened the door- looking rather confused. She looked at him blankly for a second. 

  
“Nathan- what?” 

  
“I got your address from the community centre.” He said weakly, before he held out the phone, “I just thought you might want your phone back.” She took it hesitantly. “there probably a photo on there you wanna delete. It’s just some ball-sack.” She frowned at the statement, and he decided he couldn’t really deal with her worried look any longer- “Anyway, I’ll um, I’ll see you around.” Just as he turned to leave she called out to him.

  
“Are you ok?” he paused and spun back, not feeling quite up to being rude. 

  
“I- um, it’s nothing really, just work shit and flashbacks nothing much.” He tried to smile but it came out wrong and watery. She frowned at the statement and gestured him towards the door again. 

  
“Come in, you look like you need to chat with someone.” 

* * *

He found himself sitting on Ruth’s sofa, rubbing his fingers across his knuckles- a soothing habit he had picked up shortly after his first death. 

  
“She hit me. and well- its not really something I do well with- hitting.” He let out a small laugh. Ruth frowned.

  
“Why?” she asked and when he tensed she spoke again, voice rushed, “I’m sorry you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He waved her off.

  
“Nah- it’s fine. As you have probably noticed I'm American and uh, me and Klaus didn’t have the best dad. Well he was an abusive prick. There were eight of us kids- he tolerated three of us, hated the other four- downright neglected one. Liked to give us an old slap if we did anything he didn’t like. Sick old bastard Reggie. So we ran away here, set up our own lives- I worked at a bar until Louise fired me for getting community service over some shitty pick n’ mix and here we are.” Ruth raised her eyebrows. 

  
“So you did get arrested for eating pick n’ mix.” She muttered and now it was Nathan’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Sorry. You’re father sounds like a dick. This might sound a bit forward but Reggie? Eight kids? You don’t mean Reginald Hargreeves is your father do you?” he jerked like her words had been another slap, thoroughly shocked that she could figure everything out that easily. 

  
“I-“ he struggled for a minute, “You guessed that one fast, how did you know he adopted eight of us he always broadcasted that there were only seven?” he wanted to avoid really personal questions for now. At least then he wouldn’t be at a big risk of another breakdown. 

  
“Well the numbers? One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, and Eight? There’s clearly one missing? Also she published a book.” He blinked. 

  
“Do you mean Vanya?” she nodded and then stood up, going into the other room seemingly to retrieve something. She came back with a paper-back book with Vanya’s face plastered onto the cover, the title reading ‘extra-ordinary’ and he startled. She handed him the book and he swiftly read the blurb, eyes almost skipping over most of the words hurriedly. 

  
_The seventh, forgotten member of the famous Umbrella Academy- creation of Sir Reginald Hargreeves- reveals new secrets and horrors that lie behind a house full of super-human children. Sharing childhood experiences as the only ordinary person in the house. Living alongside seven super-powered siblings, a robotic mother, a genius father, and a genetically crafted gorilla serving as a butler is a tough feat for a young powerless girl._

  
He looked up, mouth hanging wide in utter shock, before he shook his head disbelievingly. 

  
“I can’t believe she’s write something like this- it….. it exposes everyone. We all left that life behind she cant just rip up everything again like that- its not…” Ruth tapped the book,

  
“She didn’t use anyone’s real names, just numbers- and nicknames.” Something eased inside him knowing that no one would guess who he or Klaus was off of the book, “I had to guess- so you’re either number Eight or Number Four. Either one of the set of twins, and the Klaus is you’re other half.” He grinned at her perceptiveness. 

  
“Number Eight.” He said, looking to her and she blinked, then seemed to ponder and mentally nod to herself. 

  
“The immortal one.” She remarked. And he nodded stiffly- it had been a while since someone other than himself had pointed out his irritating excuse for a power. She seemed to stare at him sadly for a moment, and he waved her off irritably.

  
“Don’t.”

  
“Don’t what?” she asked earnestly.

  
“Don’t pity me. I hate pity.” She nodded, before looking away, then refocusing back onto him. 

  
“Do you want a drink?” she asked and he nodded in reply- giving her a genuine smile in return. He liked Ruth, even if she was a little invasive- she seemed nice enough, and didn’t say anything overly stupid or triggering about the whole Umbrella Academy fiasco. He wondered what Klaus would say about the book. He really couldn’t believe Vanya would just hand away the family secrets like that- like it was nothing; he understood why she might of felt it was necessary but it was probably the most selfish thing he had ever witnessed someone do. Anyone with half a brain could figure out that everyone in the house was sensitive to the memories. Everyone had something they didn’t want the public to know, and the anxiety f not knowing what was contained in the book was- overwhelming. He held it tighter in his grasp, knuckles turning white. 

  
She left the room promptly to go get drinks, and suddenly his attention was averted to the room- looking around at the very dated décor with wide eyes. 

  
“Who’s house is this?” he asked bewildered. 

  
“It’s my grans.” She called from the kitchen, and he nodded accordingly. He supposed that made sense. She walked back into the room with two small sherry glasses, huffing out a mall bit of laughter from the look on his face as he studied a magnifying glass. 

  
“Is sherry ok?” she asked, and he forced back the desire to ask for something stronger, simply nodding and taking a glass from her. They both sat next to each other on the old sofa a glass in hand. he turned to her. 

  
“So what happened to you?” he asked, “ I came back last night and you were gone.” 

  
“You seemed more interested in chasing a naked man around the car park.” She took a sip of her sherry and he chuckled. 

  
“So, what would have happened if I hadn’t gone chasing a naked man around the car park?” he question leaning close to her. 

  
“I'm guessing,” she began slowly, “you would have had some pretty amazing sex.” His eyes widened, a grin spreading onto his face.

  
“Really.” He said into his sherry, 

“Really.” She replied. He downed his sherry. 

* * *

“Are you ok?” she called through the door. Nathan was backed up against the wall breathing heavily, trying not to close his eyes in fear of the image of an old pleasure-seeking woman rupturing his retinas once more. He felt as if he was going to throw up- the memory burnt into his eyes, plaguing him although it had only just happened. He really shouldn’t be immediately reminiscing- normally when people are panicked they stay in the moment, but not now. He felt dirty, unclean- like he wanted to scrub away his own skin just to feel more comfortable. It was awful _, awful, awful._

  
“What the fuck was that thing?” he replied breathlessly, shakily reaching for a dressing gown to at least cover himself. 

  
“It was the storm.” She said, and Nathan’s stomach dropped, “I just wanted to be young again.” He took a shaky breath. 

  
“You’re complaining about my cum face you should see yours love- it’s a shocker.” He clasped his arms around himself, forcing his mind to ground itself. 

  
“Do we have to talk about this through the door?” she asked, sounding slightly pained. He took another uneasy breath. 

  
“Ok- I’m coming out, move away from the door- back up.” He called, and only when he heard her footsteps move away from the door did he move towards it, sliding open the lock and opening the thing. They stared at each other for a moment. “Exactly how old are you?” he asked, and he could hear the nausea in his own voice. 

  
“Eighty two.” She said, some what nervously. He let a pained noise come from his throat and bit down on one finger.

  
“I shagged someone’s gran.” His misery came through in his weak voice- his mind reeling at the thought. 

  
“I’m sorry.” She tried, stepping forward slightly, and he stepped away- not wanting to be near her. 

  
“You’re sorry? It doesn’t seem like you’re sorry- you could have told me before.” His voice died away pathetically. He turned away, headed towards the stairs somewhat desperately. 

  
“Nathan please!” she called out to him, “I think I’m turning back I'm scared! Please I’m sorry!” he shuddered at the sound of her voice, shaking his head aggressively. 

  
“No Ruth- I can’t, I can’t.” 

* * *

The doors to the community centre slammed open, making Klaus jump up in shock- he whipped his head towards the entrance to see Nathan stumbling inside- he looked….. rough. He was lilting slightly, and when Klaus reached out for him he flinched- his hands were shaking. 

  
“Nathan what-“ he asked weakly, terrified for his brother. Any number of things could have happened out there, when it was dark- it wasn’t like the back alleys of London to be safe, and it was a real possibility that e had been killed again- for what would have been the first time in about a year and a half. Long periods of time without dying always shook him, though not usually this badly.

  
“Bad situation with a grandma- I’ll be fine I just.” He shuddered violently. Klaus pulled him to sit against the wall, allowing both of them to slide down and lean on each other.   
“You ok?” Klaus asked hesitantly. His brother nodded quietly. 

  
“I’ll tell you.” He took a breath and Klaus waited, “so you know Ruth?”

  
“The nice woman that came into the community centre?” Nathan nodded, before waving his arms around. 

  
“Wait I need to start from the beginning- I um right.” He stammered, seemingly collecting his thoughts again. “I went over to Louise’s by myself- to talk to Jeremy and stuff, get him to leave. I- its didn’t go all too well, she hit me.” 

  
“Louise hit you?” he exclaimed and Nathan waved him away half-heartedly.

  
“I went to Ruth’s, to give back her phone and stuff. She figured out about the whole Umbrella Academy thing .” Klaus tensed involuntarily but Nathan continued, “things got….. heated.”

  
“You-“

  
“Yeah, “ Nathan cut him off before he could properly ask, “she turned into an old fucking woman. A grandma- a wrinkly fucking bitch.” He shuddered. 

  
“What like- she just transformed into an old woman? That’s…… that’s crazy.”

  
“Half way through.” His voice sounded full of nausea- Klaus flicked his eyes to his brother, who was still shaking slightly, and now he was slightly more worried. The whole fiasco must have freaked him out more than expected. He sighed and hoisted his twin to his feet, then grabbing the other boys shoulders so he was forced to face him.   
“Go and have a shower- calm yourself down. I think there’s ice cream in the kitchen freezer- and we can chill. Just try to forget about it. And if your going to be sick- please tell me, this is a good top.” Nathan nodded tiredly- before smirking a little. 

  
“What, no drinks?” he asked cheekily and Klaus scoffed. 

  
“You downed most of the supply the other night- and I want to savour it.” Nathan looked away a little cheekily, and then went in the direction of the locker rooms- where the showers resided. Klaus watched him go, a small frown creasing his forehead. 

* * *

They were back in the community centre’s hall- the same gaggle of elderly back for more recreational fun, the floor cleared in the same way as the days prior and the tables once again lined with food wrapped in small bits of clingfilm and tinfoil in an attempt to keep it fresh for the duration of the day. More people were dancing today- with all of the others in their little group moving alongside them happily while Nathan sat, slouched in his seat. He didn’t really care that the probation worker was glaring at him with fire in her eyes, he just wanted out and to be as far away from old people and ghosts as possible- though he couldn’t exactly skip out, so this was the better option. Klaus had opted out of actually entering the hall, wanting to steer clear of any and all ghosts he encountered- having a fear Nathan didn’t, though being locked away in a mass grave for half of your childhood could do that to a guy. 

  
Nathan let out a sigh and shifted down further in his seat. He wanted to be where Klaus was- probably relaxing, doing something stupid while Ben told him not to over his shoulder. Or he could be going for that second interview- the though made Nathan smile. Last night Klaus had admitted he couldn’t go round to Louise’s with him because he was trying to get a job at a small coffee shop on the estate, wanting to actually support them for once now that Nathan couldn’t.

  
He let him head bob back up to survey the room, watching everyone dancing to the insistent lyrics of _‘you’re beautiful, you’re beautiful it’s true’_ . and his eyes locked with Ruth’s. She was back an old woman, leaning over a walker with a giddy smile on her wrinkled face- coming slowly closer to him, a path somehow being made through the crowd. He lifted himself up in his seat slightly, half-frozen and a small bud of panic mixed with disgust flowering in his chest before she could reach him- he launched out of his seat and strode decidedly from the room, shivering as he went and throwing himself through the doors of the room. 

* * *

About an hour later he found himself sitting under the fly over- far away from where they buried the bodies however- more towards the highway than the stream; a cigarette clutched in his slim fingers, one knee brought to his chest. Footsteps echoed from his left and he snapped his head over- looking up at the other’s who were now donning the orange jumpsuits that marked them as criminals. 

  
“What happened to you?” Curtis asked, a hint of offence in his voice at the fact Nathan had abandoned them amongst the old people. 

  
“I will not be in a room where that song is playing.” He lied- not looking at them, instead taking a drag from his cigarette. They all came closer, so they were standing in something of a semi circle around him. All of them were holding grabbers- supposedly to pick up rubbish from the sides of the roads. 

  
“Some old woman was looking for you,” Kelly said, and Nathan felt himself stiffen, thoughts flying to the previous night with Ruth and her approach toward him earlier. Kelly’s mouth fell open and she gaped at him with wide eyes. His chest tightened in panic as he realised she could hear her- but before he could silence her she spoke. 

  
“You shagged her?” she exclaimed, and everyone looked to him in shock as he tried to curl up further into the wall. 

  
“You totally screwed her.” Alisha said, face shrivelled up in disgust- Nathan stared at her for a second before shoving himself to his feet. 

  
“No, No!” he yelled, now on his feet with his back still pressed against the wall.

  
“You nailed that old woman?” Curtis asked, before turning away slightly, “Ugh that is wrong.” 

  
“Did you enjoy it?” Simon said quietly, and Alisha laughed.

  
“Shut up you little freak!” he yelled, but Simon was already too into his little torture game. 

  
“I think he enjoyed it.” He continued with a sly grin. Alisha was still giggling girlishly in the background as Curtis spoke again. 

  
“Are you into that?”

  
“No!” Nathan exclaimed, “She didn’t look like that when we started! The storm turned her young again!” he tried to defend himself- but it seemed the other’s weren’t going to believe him- and this was solidified when Alisha made a gesture referencing oral sex at him and everyone sniggered slightly. Nathan shook his head and began walking away- not having the strength to continue with the conversation. He heard footsteps behind him, but this time he didn’t turn around. 

  
“Nathan- I didn’t mean to tell them, it just slipped out!” he recognised Kelly’s heavy accent and couldn’t help but swirl round angrily at her.

  
“Well you did didn’t you?” he yelled and continued walking, trying not to flinch when she yelled ‘grannyfucker’ after him. 

* * *

The next day Nathan found himself outside of Ruth’s house once again, staring at the door and willing himself to fins the strength to knock. He turned back- before pausing and walking back up to the door. He raised his hand and knocked three times on the wood, pausing with his breath held when it opened a crack at the impact of his fist. He pushed it the rest of the way open, stepping inside hesitantly and calling out, 

  
“Hello?”. He stepped inside fully and closed the door, wincing a little. He paused a second next to the chair lift, closing his eyes tight and holding in nausea- releasing a heavy breath before opening them and turning the other way, being careful to avoid coming into contact with the thing. 

  
“Ruth?” there was no response- silence ringing out heavily. He turned into the living room- then stopped. His breath was held as he gazed upon the still form of Ruth- eyes slightly open, though her body was boneless- a book clasped in her hand. he swallowed hard, till staring at the lifeless form of the old woman he had so cruelly avoided. Death was something he would never truly become accustomed to; the idea that another person could become still forever, their minds permanently severed from their bodies and that they could just suddenly no longer be. He would never experience that fully, the idea of dying had always been so temporary that he almost expected her to wake with a gasp in the next minute, in the same manner as he did. He knew people died and yet- he found himself staring in wonder at her for a few seconds, thinking of what she might be feeling- whether she was young again, or whether she felt free. He found himself moving slowly toward her, taking a seat on the chair and closing his eyes, chest aching wholly. 

  
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, “I’m sorry.” He looked to the book- still sat in her lap and took it from her hands, flicking open the pages. Images looked back at him, the same woman he first met- around twenty or so smiling in black and white. She perched next to a man, hair curled beautifully. The photographs were worn on the side, like they had been stroked many times over before being lovingly placed into the book, each one finding a home. He flicked through the pages, a soft smile forming on his face- before he reached the end, where half the book was empty pages. 

  
He drew in a shaky breath- placing the book back down in her lap and standing up- not brave enough to go any closer to her. He began to retreat slowly from the room, stopping when his eyes landed upon the novel that was still sitting on the small coffee table- Vanya’s face looking back at him. He swallowed past the lump in his chest and bent to pick it up with shaky hands. He let his fingers brush over the lettering of the title. 

  
“Thankyou.” He said to the emptiness of the room, and he pretended not to hear the tears in his own words. 

* * *

He, Klaus and Ben sat next to each other on the small walkway where their beds lay- staring at the book in silence. 

  
“I cant believe she would write something like this.” Klaus said in a quiet voice, eyes not leaving the novel. 

  
“We should read it.” Nathan said at an equal volume, and Ben nodded, looking uncomfortable. 

  
_“It’s better to know right?_ ” he asked and the twins stayed still. Klaus reached out for the book and flicked open the cover, looking up at the other two before back down at the page. He took a deep breath. 

  
“We were born on the first of October 1989- all of us, between twelve and one o’clock. None of us have biological fathers- simply appearing in our mother’s wombs just minutes before she was forced into labour, at least that’s what we were told. To this day I'm sure were named and organised based on when we were born in the hour slot- with One being the oldest and Eight being the youngest- even though I don’t have any real proof. We were also never told where in the world we came from- and so none of us really thought about it all that much. We were raised in America and have American accents- although our father and family friend both donned British accents.   
I obviously cant remember many details of our early years, because I was a baby, but I do remember that to look after all Eight of us, our father hired eight separate nannies (at this point our mother hadn’t, to my knowledge, been constructed). I only know this because I remember them leaving when we were around five, at which point we were deemed old enough to be watched over by just one person. I’m not sure why we changed people so often- whether the stress of looking after an abundance of children- around half of which had already developed powers at this point- was too much, but Mom was introduced before we turned six, and she stayed. 

  
I can barely remember a time before she was our mother, only brief flashes of other women telling me to eat my breakfast, but the time did exist. 

  
Our mother isn’t one to recon with- being a robot she was able to withstand us and adhere to our needs more easily, and it was simple to forget she was engineered. She acted as human as anyone, a kind, strong, loving figure filling the gap left by our father- who was interested in our training and overall development instead of our personal wellbeing and needs. She knew how to deal with all of us individually; how to stop One from bossing everyone around, how to help Two overcome a speech impediment, how to convince Three to remove unfair rumours, how to force Five to socialise, to comfort Six, to prevent the twins from lighting someone one fire- or something of the sort-“ he paused to swallow, taking in a breath, before continuing.

  
“She wasn’t the sort of person to give up on anyone, always encouraging- fixing, making us food and giving us hugs. Telling us she was proud and overall- being our mother. I miss her- I'm sure we all do.” He smiled softly, and the others found themselves doing the same- remembering their mother. 

  
“Well that’s surprisingly tame compared to what I think it was going to be.” Nathan remarked and Klaus shrugged, beginning to flick through the pages, a sort of concentration on his face. He paused very suddenly, swallowing .

  
“Yeah- I don’t know about that.” They looked to him. “She wrote about the day you died- the day Ben died, what she did when we were out on missions. The training she missed out on- us getting our names. Five going missing……” he was flicking through the pages rapidly while the other two gaped at him in slight horror. 

  
“Well fuck me. that’s nice of her.” Nathan remarked, and Klaus nodded. He threw the book to the side, and rolled over. 

  
“Fuck this- fuck everything. I’m going to bed.” Nathan snorted at his suddeness and flopped down beside him, trying not to imagine the memories locked away in that book. 

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter- more Umbrella Academy torture before kicking into the actual story.


End file.
